


Rumor Has It

by kp0p_addict



Series: College/Univerity [1]
Category: Mamamoo, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angsty moments, Betrayal, Blackmail, Break Up, Bromance, Complicated Relationships, Crack, Crazy OTP, Drinking, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, FWB, Femme Fatale, Fights, Flirting, Fluff and Smut, Frenemy, Gossip, Hoseok is pressed, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I don't write sad endings, Jealousy, Love Triangles, Love/Hate, M/M, Manipulation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possessive Behavior, Pressure, Rumors, Sad, Scheming, Sexual Tension, Swearing, Teasing, Unrequited Love, awkward dinners, ex hooking up, many ships, mention of other idols, mention of underaged sex, minor Kim Yongsun/Mamamoo, pinning, self-consiousness, taekook is main ship, the life of the rich and famous, therapy sessions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-15
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2018-07-11 20:12:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 58,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7068343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kp0p_addict/pseuds/kp0p_addict
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taehyung and Jungkook grew up together, literally, living and being raised by the same woman since Jungkook was eight. They’ve built a strong bond over the years that could rival the Great Wall of China.<br/>And if you asked any of their friends or anyone else they’d tell you that the two were best friends, bros for life, partners in crime, FWB, low-key dating or even a married couple. But no one really knows their real status, not even the two boys did. Jungkook and Taehyung’s relationship was as vague as the color of water; you saw right through it and yet you didn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. More Than Ten Out Of Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taekook is the main pair, but there're other pairs :D

Jungkook pulled his leather pants back up and fixed his zipper before giving the smiling girl a chaste kiss at the corner of her mouth thanking her. He knew that she'd expect more, but he was not in the mood anymore. He'd gotten a release and she had gotten a few minutes with him, which was probably her greatest accomplishment of the night. Now they could both go back to the party and enjoy themselves.

Except, the latter hasn't been enjoying himself one bit. He suppressed an annoyed groan when the girl didn't start moving but remained looking at him as if still waiting for something. Did he have to spell it out loud?

"So, I'll see you around?" He asked, knowing well that he'd forget her face the second she’d walk out that door and mixed with the crowd.

It was not because she wasn't one to remember. The contrary, she was a pretty thing, even more than average pretty. She was tall, almost as tall as him, possessed heart-shaped lips that pulled off her orange lipstick like no other girl he's ever seen before. In fact, her big green eyes (she was wearing contacts) gave her a mysterious look and her full body costume hugged her in all the right places.  
What was she supposed to be; Cat woman, Black Widow or Black Canary? Did it even matter? She looked hot enough and that was the whole point, right?  
He noticed that her mask had fallen somewhere on the floor and he bent over to pick it up, ever the gentleman, and then placed it back onto her face.

_She looked prettier with the mask on._

"This...what just happened," she began and he had to force himself not to cringe. Her voice was one of those squeaky ones; the types that made you think of nails on a chalkboard kind of-’ voice and he wondered why he never learned from his past mistakes. He always went to parties got wasted and ended up with some random girl that he later wanted to get rid of, only that he wasn't even wasted yet!

"Won't happen again and no one will know. We were just having fun," he needed to make it clear that it was not going to go anywhere other than what had happened."

He saw orange lips smile fall. He was not good at these things, he hated rejecting people sober. Normally anyone who got with him knew what was up and whoever didn't soon got the hint and didn't bother him, but at times, he'd be unlucky enough to end up with someone who thought they were the chosen one and could tame Jeon Jungkook.

"Right. Fun," she repeated his words bitterly walking over to the sink to wash her hands.

"Hey, you're a pretty girl, but you knew what was going to-"

"Save it; I don't want to hear any excuses." Orange lips' voice trembled and for a second he felt like an ass.

There were also those ones that got emotional and he hated those the most. He turned around and walked over to the girl, gave her a peck at the top of her head while he held her gaze in the mirror.

"I don't do excuses, just honesty. It was nice meeting you."

He fixed the buttons on his shirt one last time and slipped out the door into the pounding music and grinding bodies. Someday she'll meet a guy who will appreciate all of what she had to offer and be able to overlook her deafening voice, it just won't be him. 

What he now needed dearly was a drink or something to smoke, whichever he got his hands on first after this long, annoying and stressful week. He just had to calm his nerves and relax for a while. Three drinks in and still sober; he remembered his Hyung mentioning that he and his friends were going to get the real good stuff. He tossed the plastic cup into the sink and pulled out his phone from his too tight pants.

Gosh, why did he wear them again?

Right, because it was Namjoon-Hyung's birthday and his boyfriend, Seokjin-Hyung had thrown him a surprise party where everyone was required to wear a costume. The brunette male had not been into the idea- but it was certainly better than the first idea, which had been a Toga party. He wondered where Jin-Hyung got all these absurd ideas from. If the two wanted to play roleplay, so be it, but he didn't want to be part of it.

Seokjin had even gone so far as to send everyone a text telling them to dress up or not show up and when Jungkook didn't answer, he'd sent the younger a swat team costume with a card telling him to make use of his guns. The younger male had been mortified at first, but then he had tried on the uniform and maybe it hadn't looked so bad on him, but he still hated to dress up.  
Hence instead of wearing the complete outfit, he'd decided to rebel and only wear the short-sleeved shirt and combine it with his black leather pants because he knows he looks good in them. He had decided on keeping the tactical vest because it did look kind of cool and he knew that girls liked that kind of stuff. Though he had lost his vest at some point with girl number three or four, he was not sure. All he knew now was that some girl was running around the house wearing his vest.  
But he couldn’t have cared less.

He swiped through his phone and opened one of his previous messages.

  
**To Suga-Hyung:**  
Hyung, where r u at?

  
**From Suga-Hyung:**  
wherever you are not

  
**To Min Suga-Hyung:**  
R u really gonna be like that?  
I need something

  
**From Min Suga-Hyung:**  
You always need something, kid.  
Come upstairs, last room down the hall.

  
don't tell Jimin where I am.

  
He locked his phone grinning uncontrollably. As expected from his Hyung, he'd not leave him hanging. Jungkook and Min Yoongi aka Suga had been friends since the younger male was in high school. It had been Min Suga, the gray-brown engineer major and also, a quite impressive underground rapper that had taken Jungkook to his first bong party.

The younger male had been at a party way out of his years, but his best friend had taken him along, telling him that he had to meet some of his other friends, but had left him wondering alone in a house full of strangers when he had bumped into a short, pale looking male, whose gaze looked like it could burn down a village.  
Although the male had been shorter than Jungkook, the younger male had felt like pissing his pants. He had been thirteen, what did you expect?! The scary guy had asked him how he had gotten in and after mentioning his best friend's name, the guy laughed and told him to chill. The guy had been seventeen at that time and although much older than the brunette, they had clicked.

Jungkook had been fascinated by the way Suga, as he liked to be called "on the streets" carried himself and the way he talked. When he learned that Suga did some rapping on the side, he wondered why his best friend had kept him unknown to this other side of life for so long.                                                             Needless to say that Jungkook became Min Suga's number one fan from that day on. And now, eight years into the future, he's glad to be able to call the gray-brownish haired rapper one of his closest friends. Suga-Hyung was not one with feelings nor was the young male, but he had been there for the younger whenever he needed someone. He could proudly vouch to Suga being cute- he'd probably curse him out for that, but the older male really was.

It was the small things that he did, like reminding Jungkook of his lessons when he forgets or telling him to slow down when he got carried away drinking, smoking or warning him of who to watch out for in places.  
That and of course the way Suga acted around his long term boyfriend Park Jimin. The two had been dating for nine years, aiming ten this year and although the two were completely different, they somehow stuck together. Park Jimin, two years older that Jungkook was not someone the younger would associate himself with, not because the older male didn't like Jungkook much, but Jimin wasn't the nicest person.

Park Jimin was notorious for becoming your worst nightmare if you got on his bad side and Jungkook had heard and seen some of the stuff the brunette had pulled over the years. He also apparently had Jungkook all figured out and didn't take him seriously one bit.  
If it were to him, he'd avoid hanging out with the male, but unfortunately for him, his best friend was best bros with Chimchim- that was the pet name he'd given him, a contradiction to the person and the younger would be lying if he said it didn't irk him.

He assumed nine years of dating Jimin or Min Suga - hell dating alone- was a handful and would give anyone a burnout. That's why the two broke up way too often, but just to get back together. This time, they were back together but he assumed that his Hyung needed a break from his satan of a boyfriend and that was why it was his duty as his dongsaeng not to reveal where he was.

He made his way through the crowd of sweating and drunk bodies again this time in the direction of his sanctuary. He could already taste the weed on his tongue.

  
                                                                                                                          +

 

What had been keeping everyone anxious and on their toes had not been the robbery incident in Gangnam Street this morning or the burglars that had escaped out of a police car yesterday or any other news in the media, but the return of a certain person. When you lived in a world of the rich and famous every day was a day to talk about, sadly.

It had not been longer than twenty-four hours since he had landed at Gimpo, Seoul's second airport when his phone buzzed indicating dozens of messages asking him if he really wasn't going to attend the birthday party of the year. Half of those messages were from Seokjin-Hyung, who had left the dozens of voicemails that had begun politely and ended up in a whole different direction, but the latter had ignored them all.

The flight had taken a toll on him and although he was used to flying often, being stuck on a plane for more than ten hours was energy sucking and all he wanted to do was sleep. But he also knew that he couldn't skip the party, it would be rude not to at least show his face, besides it would also give people something to talk about.  
People were expecting him to show up, well they had been expecting him to show up a few weeks ago, at the beginning of this month before his best friend's birthday, but the latter had surprised him himself by sending him a plane ticket to New York in mid-August asking him to spend the rest of the Summer with him as his birthday present.

And who was Kim Taehyung to say no to a free trip?

But he couldn't do the same with Namjoon-Hyung, Seokjin would be livid.

Now, here he was standing outside the vacation house of Seokjin's parents in Gwacheon clad in a long green sleeve shirt with hood and a brown vest, a belt with pouch, leather pants and dark brown Chelsea boots. This had not been the original outfit; the original costume had come with gauntlet gloves, boot covers, a bow, and arrows, but he was not gonna walk into a party looking like that. He loved Robin Hood, but he wanted to look like a different Robin Hood, a hotter Robin.  
He had rimmed his eyes with eyeliner giving his expression an edgier look and swept his peach hair out of his eyes. His forehead was clear for anyone to stare at his face and he knew that he looked twelve out of ten to bang.  
Taehyung was not oblivious to his looks, he knew that he was gorgeous, that when he talked he could make people fall into a trance, he knew which smile or facial expression to pull to bend people to his own will and most of all, and he knew he was irresistible.

Matter of fact.

He was not muscular or bulky like some other people, but he was desirable, the type of guy that could steal your girl or boy if he chose to and you wouldn't even get mad.

Did that make him conceited? - Not at all, he just knew his worth; he was aware of his strength and flaws and had accepted his perfect imperfections. He had enough confident and presence to be the only person glowing in a room full of people, that was Kim Taehyung.

It had not been less than a few minutes after he had entered the house when everyone around him stopped doing what they were doing and stared. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, of course, he had expected this, but it was still annoying.  
They were looking at him as if he had awoken from the dead.

Soon murmurs followed, everyone asking whether it was him. Was it really Kim Taehyung? Had he really shown up after being MIA for nine months? When Taehyung had left, he had shut down his social media accounts and even changed his number. Only a few people from home had been in contact with him and everyone had wondered what had happened to him. Rumors had gone around, but nobody had dared to ask.

He lifted his hands to pull his hood down, but before he could, someone pulled him from the side and into their chest.

"Taehyungie! You really made it!" It was Jin, he should have known. Only Jin would hug him although aware of how much the younger male hated being touched out of the blue.

"You don't know how happy I am!" the older went on, squeezing the younger even tighter. He realized he was doing it on purpose. What he really meant was _"What have you been doing you little punk? You couldn't even send a text all this time?!"_ But Seokjin was never one to cause a scene; Seokjin was too mature and serene...most of the time...sometimes.

"Namjoon is going to be so happy to see you!" he continued and that was when Taehyung coughed.

"That is unless I die here in your arms," he teased cheekily into the elder’s chest.

Seokjin hit him lightly on the head, but let him go.  
The younger male noticed that Seokjin was now blonde, he let his eyes wander and his eyebrows rose, a knowig smug settling on his features. "Why do I feel like you didn't buy that costume for the party, Hyung?" he cocked an eyebrow.  
The older male didn't blush but gave him a mischievous grin and absently fixed his white doctor's coat.

"Don't change the subject, I want to know everything. But first, let's go find the birthday boy." He linked both their arms; as if afraid he'd slip away and pulled him through the crowd.

A few drinks in and Taehyung was surrounded with some of his old friends, talking and laughing as if he'd never left. He'd congratulated the birthday boy and given him his present - the latest Kanye West album that had technically not been released to the public, but Taehyung had his ways of getting things. To say that Namjoon was happy would be an understatement, the tall male had also engulfed him into a bone crushing hug and thanked him for coming and for also agreeing to play along with the dress up theme Jin had set up.

To which Seokjin had clicked his tongue at and said that he wanted to bring the freak out of everyone and that although people had first complained, they had gone all the way. Some had even worn a full armor or animal suits; girls were walking around in their Victoria Secret lingerie as if they were on a Catwalk.

He gave the peach haired male a once over then smiled knowingly. "Did you two plan the couple looks?" he asked.

Taehyung raised his brows behind his solo cup.

"Jungkook is wearing the same pants," Namjoon elaborated.

If it caught the young male off guard, he did not show it. He was glad that his hood was still on his head and that the cup hid half of his face. He licked the alcoholic drink off his lips as he sank the cup down and shook his head.

"I haven't seen him yet."

Lies.

Someone had taken some pictures of the said male and had posted them online. Pictures of Officer Jeon Jungkook have been viral the last two hours and the elder male may or may not have saved one or two on his phone, but he would not admit that out loud.

Also, people had been talking about Jungkook since the peach haired male had arrived, even asking him where the younger male was. He was not the younger's keeper, he did not keep tabs on him anyway whatsoever and they should mind their own damn business, but he knew better. They all just needed something to start gossiping with, but he was not going to give them more than he already had.

Taehyung didn't care where Jungkook was or what he was doing. He had not come for the younger and his world did not revolve around the younger male like everyone thought it did. He didn't know where the brunette male was, but if he were to take a guess then somewhere getting high or screwing someone, that would have been what he'd have liked to answer, but he just shrugged and ignored the questions or tried not to frown every time someone mentioned Jungkook's name.

"But you saw him after you arrived right?" Seokjin asked with a smile on his face. The blonde male was a die-hard Taekook-shipper and had voiced it out more than the other could remember.

The younger male could practically feel everybody’s eyes on him. Everyone wanted to know why they'd both arrived at the party separately.  
Some had already started talking about Jungkook making out with a few girls a while back, that he had been entering and exiting rooms with a different girl since he'd arrived.

"Who do you think had picked me up at the airport?" he asked and the other two grinned.

Truthfully, Jungkook had not even known he'd be returning. Until two days ago, even Taehyung was not sure whether he'd be coming back home. His decision to return had been on a whim and he was not sure whether he was staying or going back. He had not told anyone of his return in fear he changed his mind at the airport and flew right back, he did not want people to expect anything or make up any stories that he'd later have to deny or confirm.  
Plus, he loved the moment of surprise. And what a surprise it had been when he showed up. News had traveled throughout the whole house that Kim Taehyung, the Kim Taehyung was back and people were still talking, staring, looking and surrounding him as if he had come bearing a message from the Promised Land.

Even the people he did not know were now standing around him listening to him talk and laugh with his friends. Namjoon and Seokjin had long left him- probably to go be gross someplace private- and the peach male considered remaining at the party for forty more minutes and then heading home.  
He'd arrived at the party three hours late and would leave it two hours earlier. He had come, shown his face, congratulated the birthday boy, spoken to a few old friends, given people something to talk about and he'd then leave, maybe with someone to end the night with.

 

                                                                                                                +

 

Twenty minutes before the peach haired male was about to call it a night, he felt a pair of strong arms grab his wrist and pull him away from a group of girls he was speaking to. The person dragged him through the crowded living room into the backyard, closing the door behind them.  
He'd already known who it was even before the person had dragged him away or else he wouldn't have followed him outside. He'd let the younger male lead the way and tried to keep his excitement off his face when Jungkook turned around and met his gaze.                                                                                      

The photos online had not done the young male any justice, this right now in front of him was the real deal. While the photos had been taken at the beginning, when Jungkook had just arrived, shirt tucked into his pants, hair parted to the side he had looked neat ten out of ten, but now his shirt was untucked, hair messy, lips red and swollen , pupils were blown and dark; he looked hundred out of ten totally fuckable.

Taehyung bit down on his bottom lip subconsciously as he waited for the younger to say something, anything, but then Jungkook took a step towards him then another and then another and then his hand was around his waist, pulling him close. The older male felt the younger's breath on his neck.

"You didn't tell me you were coming back," Jungkook whispered under his ear, lips brushing over the elder's neck lightly, softly, teasingly.

Taehyung took a sharp inhale worrying his bottom lip, forcing his hands to remain by his side when the younger male brought his hand behind the elder's head for support and started stroking his nape softly while his other hand was trying to crawl under his shirt.

"I had to hear it from other people and had to pretend to already know," it had not been an accusation, but the younger was just letting him know. It still didn’t mean that the elder didn’t get affected by his non-accusation.

"I'm sure it wasn't that hard, you're good at pretending. Besides, I didn't know I had to tell you everything." His heart was beating out of his chest and he was sure the other could also hear, but he didn't let it deter him.

Jungkook was high and high Jungkook did not mind a lot of things. Taehyung had long known where Jungkook was, thanks to Wheein a very close friend of the latter, she'd been in the same room as Jungkook upstairs and when someone had come in announcing that Taehyung had just arrived and they should check their phones;  
Wheein had come running down the stairs to the said boy and had given him another bone crushing hug and then resulted in hitting him for not returning her calls, but all was forgiven and she'd stuck by his side in a semi-hug the whole time, that was until Taehyung's cousin had shown up and she had disappeared, not before making him promise to have lunch with her on Monday.

All the while he had felt a pair of eyes on him, - a lot of people had been watching him this whole time- but there was only one set of eyes that could make him feel anxious and excited at the same time. He had been aware of the younger male returning downstairs and him staring at the older, but he had forced himself to ignore him.

He was not going to go over to the younger like everyone else supposed he'd do, but would do his thing and leave without talking to Jungkook because they could both attend the same party without being stuck together.  
The brunette hummed, nibbling at the other's neck gently.

"Not everything, but this," he gave him a light kiss behind his ear and the older male gasped.

"I could have picked you up or waited and we could have flown back together," he bit down on his earlobe and pulled a little, before placing kitten like licks under the elder’s jaw and this time, while his hand had finally made it under the older's shirt and was now caressing his sides.

Taehyung could not keep his hands from touching the younger male.

"It was a last-minute decision," he told, arms wrapping around the younger's neck and one hand cradling his head to keep him where he was and fingers running through soft brown locks.

Thankfully they were almost the same height so he didn't have to tiptoe or bend, but Jungkook evidently had the broader body. His body had conjured up into what Taehyung considered a man of all men. Jungkook had a body crafted like the greek gods; with a rock hard six pack and gorgeous triceps and don't get him started on the younger's thighs.

The younger gave his ass a light squeeze when the elder's nails dug into his scalp a little deeper; they both knew that the younger liked it.

"Was it?" he questioned and then pulled away to look at the elder's flushed face but left the other hand underneath the shirt, continuing its work.

"Here I was thinking you just didn't want people knowing we spent the whole summer together," his voice was still playful, but no longer soft or flirty as before and Taehyung caught on.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you're calling yourself my dirty little secret," he muttered watching how the younger's eyes widened and then restricted and a smirk formed on his face.

"It would be the other way around, Hyung."

Taehyung snickered. "I highly doubt that." He leaned in to peck the younger's cheek and then kissed along the younger's jaw to his neck. Jungkook's hand automatically went to the elder's other waist and pulled him in, a reflex he had mastered long ago.

"You should first stop screwing basic bitches with cheap perfume and then say that again," the elder returned the kisses the younger male had been giving him, but unlike Jungkook, Taehyung left a hickey in his wake.

Despite the spot prickling, Jungkook still chuckled when the older detached his lips from his neck to give him an open-mouthed kiss, the older's tongue did not waste time venturing into the other's mouth and nor did he restrict himself from moaning into his mouth, when the younger sucked on his tongue hungrily, causing his legs to go weak.  
The brunette's hands tightened around the elder’s waist again as if about to lift him off the ground and the other knew; he knew that if he were to jump on the younger, the other would catch him and press him right against the door behind them, but it would be too easy.  
 

Instead, he ended the kiss and went back to nibbling on the younger male's soft neck for distraction;  the kiss had been too short and left both of them wanting more, yet also promised more to come.  
Taehyung would never admit it, but it was jealousy that had driven him into leaving a hickey above the younger's collar bone for everyone to see and wonder.

"Careful there, someone may mistake you for getting jealous."

He felt the elder smile on his neck, where his teeth were grazing in a rather slow pace, making the younger boy's grip on the other's waist tighten, urging him to get on with it.

"It's a game Guk; the one that gives in first loses."

"That would be you right now," the younger retorted with a restrained voice. Taehyung had one of his thick silver hoops between his teeth and was mouthing at his leisurely. He knew that that was one of the younger's weaknesses.  
To prove his point, he chuckled and removed one of his hands from the younger's neck and brought it lower to both of their waists. He created a small space between their bodies and run his index finger slowly down on the visible bulge under the younger's leather pants.

"Are you sure it's me?" he asked voice low and mocking.

"Are you saying I'm losing now, Hyung?" the raven's voice was raw as he tried to keep it together and ignore the thumb that was now drawing small circles around his bulge.  
Taehyung hummed sinfully as if he was having the best sundae of his life beside the younger's ear and this made the younger's already too tight, too uncomfortable pants felt even more uncomfortable. He wanted to pull them off and throw them away.

"That depends on how the night turns out. Ask me again in the morning."

Taehyung didn't leave the party later, but as soon as those words left his mouth and he was not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo....what do ya think? How was the first chap? Let me know ;D  
> Plus, shout out to my amazing beta for her awesome comments and beta-ing


	2. Till The Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is their real relationship? Who wants more, who is losing between the two? Who is the chaser between Tae and Jungkook?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank you guys for the positive feedback for this fic. It's my second story and I'm really excited since I'll be experimenting the characters here^^ They're different from the real life characters, don't forget to keep that in mind. I also have OG characters :D  
> I'm excited about this chap, because Jacks (my amazing beta) wrote me a comment that pretty much has me grinning from ear to ear^^  
> Song rec for this chap: http://soundcloud.com/kehlanimusic/till-the-morning-prod-by-jahaan-sweet  
> :} ENJOY!!!

 

 

Jung Da In was talking to Moon Young and Yerin, two girls from her cousin, Jung Hoseok’s class. The said male was a dance and music major, who had managed to get scouted by a big entertainment company and had been their trainee for about two years now. It was no rumor that Jung Hoseok had many talents, but if his cousin had to name one that fascinated her the most then it would be his dancing skills. The male trainee made you question your body muscles by just looking at him twist his limbs, it was almost sad.

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud gasp coming from a girl standing near them and somehow the whole room went silent with the only exception of the hip-hop music blasting throw the speakers.

She looked around the room confused but noted that they were indeed all quiet and staring at the entrance expectantly. Someone asked through the silence if it really was true and she tried not to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help it.

 “Yes, he just entered the house like a minute ago,” a voice answered.

 Another gasp followed, and then a murmur and soon the room followed. She didn’t understand the reason for all this commotion.

 Turning her attention back to her friends, she raised one of her perfectly threaded eyebrows questioningly at them, hoping that they could explain the situation.

 “Taehyung is back,” her cousin said curtly. His voice did not sound very happy about the news or bitter. It was like he didn’t care or was tired hearing the name. But she couldn’t blame him, people had been talking about Taehyung for weeks at school and even though she didn’t know Taehyung personally, she felt like she already did.

 “Kim Taehyung? Don’t tell me you don’t know him, everybody does,” Moon Young said, eyes looking at her accusingly.

 Truthfully, Da In didn’t like Moon Young; she was too stuck up and always talked with her nose in the air, not that her twin Yerin was any different. The two twins were what one called the devil’s spawn. They were bitchy, vicious and didn’t care about who they would hurt in the process. With what they said and having both their parents as lawyers, they felt untouchable.

She didn’t understand why her cousin, who was pure and anything but evil, was friends with them. How he could be close friends with Park Jimin’s minions. (That was what she named them since they did whatever Park Jimin asked them to do.)

"Is he a celebrity?" she asked, unfazed at the way the two twins stared at her shockingly. Her cousin smirked. Okay, so maybe she did know who Kim Taehyung was, but not enough to understand why everyone was so hyped over the fact that he was back.

Da In had been seeing pictures of Taehyung and his family in the media ever since she was a child. Everyone who was everyone knew who Kim Taehyung was, everyone must have at least heard of his family and if not then there was a history gap that one needed to fill in. The Kims were known for having big businesses all over Asia and also in a few western countries. The Kims were South Korea's modern era's royals, them and the Jeons, who also seemed to own just as much if not more businesses.

It had just been a coincident that she happened to be attending the same University with the two heirs, though she hadn't gotten a chance to officially meet either of the two. Kim Taehyung was apparently abroad, no one knew where he went and Jeon Jungkook had only shown up to the class they had together once and he had been thirty minutes late, but it hadn't seemed to faze anyone not even the teacher.

They all saw it as his normal behavior, he apparently had a reputation for being high all the time and skipping classes, but still managed to show up for exams and pass, how, no one knew, but it didn't surprise anyone. Some said it was because his family was so powerful that he could probably hand out an empty sheet of paper and still pass the class and some called him a prodigy.

 "He's worth more than a celebrity," Yerin snacked at her.

She still didn't know who she disliked the most out of the twins. Hoseok had told her in the beginning when he'd introduced them to her that they were a handful, but nice when you got to know them, but so far all she got were bitchy remarks and nasty comments and she was ready to get up and walk away. Except that she couldn't because they'd been her ride here and she knew that her cousin was too high to comprehend a lot of the things that were going on.

"Well, good for him." She swept her hair to the side and then grabbed her drink to distract herself from the two witches while she roamed the room quietly.

Just as she was closing her eyes to let the sweet alcoholic beverage consume her mouth, a hand was clutched onto her thigh and her eyes snapped open landing on a boy that looked like heaven himself. _Kim Taehyung._

No one had to tell her, she'd seen his pictures in the media way too many times to recognize him, even under that hood, she could still make out his shining brown eyes (were brown eyes this shiny?), could see his perfect white teeth, framed with pink plump lips as he laughed at something that a blonde guy, Namjoon-Oppa's boyfriend said. Was Seokjin his name? She'd heard from her cousin that the blonde guy was now an intern, had graduated last year from med school and had gained an internship at some big hospital, probably through some family connections, that was how they all got around, wasn't it?

He was tall, taller than she'd expected him to be, taller than she'd imagined him to be. His shoulders were wide, not as wide as Namjoon's boyfriend or Jungkook, but they were the perfect size for him. Her eyes trailed down his body and noticed the leather pants, she frowned as she tried to recall where she'd seen the same pair from, then exclaimed silently when she realized that Jungkook was wearing the same pants, but she could not decide who looked better, did it even matter?

They both looked better than she'd ever look in those pants and this somehow irritated her.

It all happened too suddenly, many of the others who had been murmuring around her started to now approach the new guest and soon there was a group around the male, talking and laughing with him. Hoseok had somehow managed to sneak off of the couch and had disappeared out of the room while she had been too dazed with Kim Taehyung. He was not among the little group that was surrounding Taehyung, which confused her, but what confused her more was the small girl that came rushing into the room cursing, only to stop in front of Taehyung as he turned in the direction of the voice with a knowing smile and then embraced her as if nothing was wrong. She'd hit him and even pushed him off when he let go. 

If Da In didn't know better , she'd have thought that the two were an item, but Jung Whee In, though having the same name as her, but not having any relations with her or Hoseok, whatsoever, was, in fact, one of Kim Taehyung's closest friend as she'd come to hear.

“I’ve had this dream so many times but this one is the worst of them all,” Yerin muttered under her breath. Da In wondered what she had meant.

Taehyung put his arm around Whee In's shoulder and pulled her in while she wrapped her arms around his waist. He then turned to the others and continued their previous conversation. They didn't seem to mind that she'd interrupted nor did they mind the position the two were standing in. 

“It was so obvious that she’s going to show up,” Da In heard Moon Young scoff.

“You’d think she stopped being so thirsty after going away, but there she is; stuck onto him again,” Yerin spoke annoyed.

Da In now understood. While everyone had greeted and welcomed Taehyung only a very few who were close to him had given him a hug and even they didn't linger too much by his side, they all kept their distance, but Whee In had come out of nowhere and had taken the one spot that every girl or even most guys in the house probably desired the most. It kind of sucked.

You could tell that the two were close. Although they were standing and chatting with a group of people, they still managed to be in their own little world. Whee In would whisper something at him while he half listened to whatever story someone was saying and he'd smile at that or they'd both look at each other with a knowing grin before either of them spoke. Whether the two just had a close relationship between a Noona and a Dongsaeng or were hooking up, you could not tell, but what was obvious was that they were very close and Da In thought that it was something no one should be jealous of.

Taehyung might be close to the group of people around him, but you could tell who he was most comfortable with and that was the girl he kept sharing his drink with, the girl he was protectively holding by his side. 

If there was something that she, as an Art student, had to master, then it was reading people’s body language; Taehyung was not just showing how close he was to Whee In, but he was showing everyone that if they dared to mess with the girl that was under his wing, they also messed with him.

“Wasn't she in rehab? - I mean, with the way the two of them were acting the whole year…” Yerin whispered to her sister.

“Who were acting?” Da In asked trying to set her eyes off the pair. Maybe they did hookup; the two were standing too close together for it to be juts platonic.

“Tae and Wheein, they went all Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie; Wheein got suspended and Tae well, he didn’t get busted but he just disappeared.” Moon Young explained disinterested as if Da In was already supposed to know this information.

She wanted to ask her what had happened last year but decided against it.

“It was so much better when both of them were still gone,” Yerin muttered swirling her drink.

“Don’t get us wrong, we like them, but it’s just that: I’m sure you haven’t missed the fact that Wheein is flirty. She flirts with every hot guy. Guys are into her, it’s just like that,”

“But Taehyung, he’s like a magnet; girls - guys, even animals, they all dance to his tune, it’s like he has a spell he puts on every person he comes across. He doesn’t have to say a word and they come crawling on their knees.” Moon Young added.

“With him around, we’re invisible in a room full of people,” Yerin nodded her head in the direction where Wheein and Taehyung were still conversing with the others.

Da In watched closely. They weren’t wrong; everyone was now talking to each other as if the male dressed as Robin Hood was the voice they had all been waiting for to start having fun. She couldn’t tell what, but there was something compelling about Kim Taehyung: The way he carried himself while talking, how he acted and how he looked at people while they talked. It was all so elegant but yet superfluous and casual at the same time. He flirted, made jokes, teased the others in a familiar manner that neither of the girls or guys had ever done since she had met the others.

“It’s hard to not look at him isn’t it?” she heard Moon Young ask. She shifted her gaze away immediately and pretended to be looking somewhere else.

Moon Young giggled beside her, “No, that’s not what I meant. I was just saying that he can’t help it who he is. He just has an enchanting aura. You can’t ignore his presence no matter how hard you try, your eyes always end up in his course,“ her voice sounded far away which made Da In turn her head and look at her.

“He's very pretty,” she heard herself murmur and wished she hadn’t said it but Moon Young just smiled coldly.

“Do you think he’s aware of the influence he has on them?” She nodded her head in their direction.

They all watched the group again. Wheein whispered something to Taehyung, who raised a brow at her. She pecked him on the cheek and then run out of the room into the living room. When she was gone, someone else took her space and the group narrowed, people shifted to get near him. Like moths starving for light; all hungry and desperate.

“I think he’s very well aware of it; he's Kim Taehyung after all,” Da In heard herself answer her own question, this damn mouth of hers!

Yerin gave her a smile, but it wasn’t as cold as her sister, but it was rather a proud smile as if she'd said something good.

The other two girls went about talking about what had happened the previous year and Da In half-heartedly listened while she kept her eyes on the group. Therefore it did not come as a surprise to the two when she suddenly gasped, stood up and let her forgotten drink fall in the process.

Both girls only had to look in the direction she was looking to catch a glimpse of Taehyung being dragged away from the group.

Realizing what she'd just done, Da In sat back down quickly and lowered her head, hoping that no one had seen her slip up, because God, that would be so embarrassing.

Her companions, however, didn't let her mule in her self-pity.

 

"Was that Jungkook who took him away?" Yerin asked.

She raised her head to meet the girl's expression. She was looking at her expectantly. "I dunno, it happened so fast," she answered.

"It was Jungkook, I saw it!" They heard someone say in the room. Everyone was talking about what had happened; people were typing on their phones.

“Where do you think they went?” Yerin asked her sister who had also taken out her phone and was now typing furiously.

“I bet they went to catch up,” she answered cheekily, wriggling her eyebrows without looking away from her phone. Yerin giggled.

It was times like this when the two twins decided to exclude the other party out of their conversations and only they understood what they were saying, like right now.

"Well, duh, they're close, of course, they'd want to catch up," Da In muttered.

"Oh, they're close alright," Yerin said sarcastically, snickering along with her sister.

 

Da In frowned looking between the two sisters. She didn't understand.

 

Unless...“You mean the two of them are a thing? – I thought they were best friends?”

 

Da In remembered the first time she saw Jungkook and asked Hoseok about him. Her cousin had told her that he was Kim Taehyung's best friend and that the two had practically grown up together as brothers. Jungkook's parents and Taehyung's father had died in a plane accident when the younger male was six, leaving him an orphan. One would expect Jungkook to have lived with his relatives, but it had been his Godmother, who happened to be Taehyung's mother who had taken him in. Nobody knew how she'd managed to persuade the Jeon's from leaving the young boy in her care, but after his parents’ funeral, Jungkook moved in with the Kims and became a part of them. He and Taehyung became inseparable, where one went, the other followed and when they met Jimin and then later Yoongi, the four males were even closer.

_“I don’t mean tight: best friends forever, but they’re very close. You attack one of them and they’ll all come after you.” Hoseok had explained._

_“Yoongi and Jungkook are actually chill; they’re not as bad as the other two: Jimin’s always mad at something or someone. Kid's got some inner anger that he likes letting out on people. I've seen some of the messed up things he's pulled, just don't get on his bad side." he warned._

_"What about Taehyung? How_ _is_ _he friends with him?" How did Jimin have any friends?_

_"Tae is nice to everybody who is nice to him: you piss him off in any kind of way then expect something to happen to you twice as bad, but as long as you stay on his good side, nothing can happen to you.”_

_“I personally would be more friends with Taehyung._ _Yoongi's_ _alright, but he’s with Jimin, they act as one, so if they decide to attack you, then you’re screwed: I don’t even want to imagine it.”_  

_“Jungkook wouldn’t be a bad option, but you have to be on Taehyung’s good side to be friends with him, so it all leads back to Taehyung.” He had continued, while Da In nodded along._

_“And then there is Wheein and Namjoon, Taehyung and Jimin's other favorite people. They’re very protective of them, so whatever you do; don’t get into a fight with either of them, because no matter what, they’ll be favored. They’ve known each other since pre-school and they all live in the same neighborhood. Their parents are all friends,” Hoseok had said as if that was enough explanation._

 

_Rich people knew each other; that was no secret, but it did not mean that they were close._

Da In knew Wheein was the black-haired hair girl that always wore short outfits and high heels. The girl whose parents owned the entertainment company Hoseok was a trainee at. The girl had recently come back and every time Da In saw her, she had a different guy on her side.

She also knew Kim Namjoon, the genius from the law department; the tall guy that kept switching his hair from blonde to whichever light shade he felt like and back to blonde. As a law major, Namjoon was on the other side of campus, but when she did cross paths with him, the guy looked at her with bored eyes as if she wasn't on his level to converse with him. He reminded her of Jimin, just more serene.

Da In had met Jimin a few times and she would be lying if she said that the short male didn't make her uneasy. She didn't know what it was, but there was something scary about Jimin, something about the way he'd look at you, smirk at you and speak to you in his gentle voice, but the words coming out of his mouth wouldn't be so gentle. 

_"And where do you fit in all this?" she'd asked._

_Hoseok had shrugged taking a swig from his blunt before passing it to her. "I'm neutral."_

Woon Young shrugged. “Who knows? All we know is that the two are always together; they always come in a package. I think the past few months were the first time in history we’ve seen Jungkook without his Hyung.” There was something bitter about the way she said the last words.

“He walked around like a lost dog,” Yerin said cynically.

“Too bad he didn’t ask us to give him company or at least hold his leash.” Woon Young snorted.

“I think he’d rather be alone than betray his Hyung,”

Da In was losing the conversation. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Yerin sighed as if they had been explaining everything to her this whole time. “When you saw photos of them together what did you think? – No, did the thought ‘they make a cute or beautiful couple’ cross your mind?” they looked at her expectantly.

“Somehow,” She answered not sure where they were heading.

The two girls exchanged a look. “Well, fact is they really do, but the sad thing is they aren’t, at least not in public. They are just best friends.” Yerin made a hand gesture.

"Taehyung is bi, - I'm sure you know that and Jungkook only likes girls," her sister carried on. "So whether they do hook up on the low, no one knows."

“All we know is that Jungkook doesn’t date.” Yerin carried the explanation. They were switching back and forth explaining to her, just like they’ve been doing this whole time and she honestly hated it when they did that.

“The two of them don’t get involved with any of their friends either; it’s like a pact they both made together. They would flirt but don’t expect more from them.”

“Taehyung just goes out with people, dates them for a week and leaves them wanting more, that’s his rule, you’ll see in time.”

Da In felt like she had opened a book that didn’t want to shut, her head felt too heavy on her neck and suddenly she regretted letting her glass fall.

“In other words; Jungkook belongs to Taehyung and Taehyung belongs to Jungkook, did I miss something?" she asked looking between the two girls and then eyeing the empty solo cup on the floor. Could she still use it or did she have to get up and get a new cup?

Both girls nodded at her. Yerin even patting her on the shoulder.

She nodded silently letting the information sinking in her head. So there was no hope of her ever having a shot with either of them. 

 

+

 

Taehyung awoke to the feeling of soft lips kissing along his shoulder blades and fingers threading through his hair. He groaned sleepily, not wanting the hand to stop, but also not wanting to wake up either. The person beside him chuckled, - he could feel their breath on his cheek and he wrinkled his nose as the smell of coffee entered his nostrils.

 

"Go away let me sleep s'more," he slurred, turning his head in the opposite direction, but the person just chuckled even louder and hovered over him to peck his cheek.

"Guk, you big baby, get off of me!" he tried to wiggle from under the male, but he was too sleepy and the other was stronger than him, so he gave up and turned his head again in the previous position to sleep again. 

Two hours later, the older male finally opened his eyes to find his bed partner fast asleep next to him. Jungkook had rolled off him to sleep on his side, but left his whole leg resting on the lower back of the elder male and his arm draped over his back and although it didn't feel tight, the older male was trapped under the young male's lower body and couldn’t get out when he tried to move away.

"I have to go," he rasped softly to the younger male, a hand cupping the other's cheek, his thumb caressing the younger's face lazily. Jungkook leaned into the hand, emitting a disagreeing noise.

"You don't have to go anywhere," he responded groggily, arms reaching out to wrap around the older and with one quick movement, he'd managed to roll the older male on top of him. He spread his legs so that the older male could slip right between them and then raised them, so he'd be trapped between his thighs. One hand rested on the elder's back, tracing small patterns.

He always did that. Proving to the older male what a big baby he was. Whenever Jungkook needed something from the older, he'd use his muscles to win against the peach haired male and although at times the older male loved to see his muscles in action- like last night, he sometimes hated it too.

"I also don't have to stay here," he said and made an attempt to lift himself, but the younger's thighs tightened on his sides and he squirmed, falling back onto the younger rather disgracefully.

A grunt escaped both of their mouths as the elder's naked groin rubbed against the younger's clothed one. Jungkook's eyes flew open to catch Taehyung biting his bottom lip, eyes shut and face red.

"You're still...after last night?" the younger questioned, eyes trailing down the elder males body, now that he was fully awake. The older male's back and probably chest was now tainted with red marks both from sucking and biting. Jungkook had gone for the kill last night, making sure to mark every part of the elder's body that was both visible and not visible to anyone.

"I mean, I don't mind, but we went at it at least four times last night, I just thought that you'd be exhausted and not really into doing much since you're still jet-lagged and all."

"Five," the older corrected, propping his arms onto the younger's chest and leaning down to rest his chin on it and stare up at his face. You'd think that their morning breath would bother them, but they've been in the same position so many times and with all the nasty things they'd done last night, their morning breath was the least nastiest.

"After the shower, you went down on me and we didn't make it to the bed," the older reminded, placing small kisses across the younger's broad chest. They’d done this way too many times for either of them to feel shy about talking their bedroom actions to each other.

"We did it on the wall." He bite down on the spot next to the younger's nipple and heard the younger male stifle a moan, his eyes rose and watched the brunette's face shift into a dark expression, he felt the younger male twitch under him and he licked around the other's nipple to erect another reaction.

Jungkook's hand that had been drawing small circles on his back, now found his naked ass and kneaded it, - not too firm to hurt, but hard enough to leave marks,- the elder's tongue darted out once more before enveloping the younger's erected nipple into his mouth. The younger squeezed the other's ass even more as the other began to nibble and graze on the nipple lightly, while his other hand teased the other.

"You said you couldn't wait," the younger male spoke through the other's ministrations. Taehyung now raised his mouth from the other boy's nipple only to switch it to the other and continue.

"Yeah, but I didn't say that I wanted to fuck on every hard surface in your apartment." 

They both knew that the younger had a kink for walls- or better say lifting the elder male and fucking him against the wall and the elder never complained. He loved the feeling of the younger male's muscles when he was holding him tight; loved every ache of his muscle when he pushed into him. Loved the sound of his voice during every grunt he'd let out due to the amount of energy he was using trying to keep the both of them steady on their feet.

Jungkook let out a strained moan, one leg sliding down and falling onto the bed and the elder smirked. He was always so easy to arouse, too simple to rile up.

"You sound like you didn't enjoy that," the younger tried to say, eyes fluttering open and searching for the elder's. When they found them, he let out a moan, feeling the area below his torso harden even more if that was even possible.

The older male shifted again, body moving upwards so that their heads would be at the same level and it took the younger a lot of self-control not to moan when their crotches brushed against each other and he felt something wet on his boxers. He was not sure whether it was him or the older male, but by the way, the other was looking at him with that predatory look in his eyes, he knew that it couldn't be the other.

Taehyung only had that look when he was thinking something dirty and knew that he was gonna get it. It had been the same look the older had given him in the car ride back home before they had fucked. - Before Taehyung had fucked him. Taehyung rarely topped, but when he did....it was like…- the younger male felt blood rush down to his abdomen excitedly. Him screwing the elder male was paradise, but the older male taking charge was home.

Big brown orbs came into view with his and long slim fingers cupped his face forcing him to look at the beautiful sun-kissed male above him as he spoke, a breath away from his mouth.

"As much as I love your kinks, I also treasure my body," he started to rock back, slowly, lazily and the younger male felt his already racing heart incredibly increase, his mouth fell open.

"You should know that, Jungkookie." The older male only called him that in bed when he was the one in charge. It was like an unspoken signal for them to know the current situation; for the younger to know and prepare.

The older knew that Jungkook hadn't been with any other male except him, which gave him some kind of satisfaction knowing that he was the only one that could get him so worked up within a few seconds. As far as everyone else knew the younger male was straight and if asked the younger would tell you he was straight. He didn't think he was bi like Taehyung was, but he just thought he had a thing for his best friend.

Jungkook had been fourteen when Taehyung, - fifteen almost sixteen at that time, had confided in him that he felt attracted to guys. At first, the younger had not been sure what to think, but the older had explained to him that he still liked girls; just at times he'd look at a guy and wonder how it would feel like to kiss them.

Taehyung had kissed Jungkook before. Back then when they were younger and playing around and imitating whatever they saw on TV. The elder had told him that he meant a real kiss, full make out with tongue.

It had seemed as if the elder male had busied himself with the topic. He had not hesitated or made up excuses but had just informed him.

Maybe it had been his curiosity or his blind loyalty to the elder male that had made him suggest the older male kiss him first before trying it out with any weird guy that would take advantage of him.

It had sounded reasonable and the elder male had kissed him. The younger didn't know what to expect, but it was definitely not to like the kiss. He did not expect to look at the elder's lips whenever the other spoke or when his tongue would dart out to wet his lips. But Jungkook had wanted the elder male to kiss him again.

And that was what he did; he kissed Taehyung on the elder’s seventeenth birthday and didn't stop till then. Whenever the elder male needed to try out something he had read or seen the other day, Jungkook would let him. It had started off innocently with the older boy touching him, then hand jobs followed, but then the older male coaxed him into watching a Yaoi anime with him- he had been sixteen then, they did more; what hands had been doing before, the mouth replaced and they both realized that that was more pleasurable.

Somewhere along the lines both of them stopped being subtle and coy about it and just got straight to the point. Sometimes it was the younger who initiated it first and at times the older male, but it never really mattered since one of them had been a few minutes too early than the other.

But while the older male didn't keep this resolution a secret, the younger kept it to himself. Yes, he liked messing around with his friend, who happened to be a guy, but he didn't feel attracted to guys, just his Hyung.

The both of them met other people during that time, the younger, girls and the older, both girls and guys, but they always seemed to end up together at the end of the day. It had been the night before the younger's seventeenth birthday, both of them had been high and of course once again, fooling around. But this time, it didn't stop with only the dry humping.

This time, the older male didn't stop after making the younger come nor did the younger want to stop. Right there, the elder male between his legs, face near his crotch, he asked if his Hyung could show him how it felt to be fucked by a guy.

_Little did he know that it would be the older male's first time with a guy, as well._

"Seeing that you're already wet, you do know that," the older male's tongue darted out to lick around the inside of the younger's mouth, then biting and tugging at the

bottom lip ever so gently. It should have been disgusting, but the younger just felt even more aroused. His other leg fell as well and he unconsciously spread his legs. He wanted to bury himself in the warmth that the other male was emitting into his boxers. The soft fabric was irritating him and he cursed himself for being so stupid of wearing any clothes after he'd woken up earlier and washed up.

"Tae..." he moaned out, feeling sweat drip down his forehead, eyes shut again, unable to keep eye contact with the said male.

The other male hummed questioningly, hips still rocking lazily, now a bit firmer. He wanted to place both of his hands around the other's waist and rock him harder, but he knew he wouldn't like that. They've gotten into a few arguments concerning his impatience and it usually resulted into the older using one of his toys on him the next time they had sex as his punishment, but he'd rather pass this time.

"What do you want?" the elder purred, nibbling along his jaw, hand sliding down to the younger's boxers. He felt his dick twitch with excitement.

"Boxers...faster." he croaked out, eyes closing and rolling into the back of his head when the elder started to suck on one of his earrings.

The elder male chuckled deeply the sound going right into his ear, and he arched off the bed subconsciously, causing them both to moan, sending shivers down his body.

"I can't do that," the other answered all over sudden, retreating himself from the younger male.

His eyes opened confused.

He watched the peach haired male roll himself off of him and onto his feet. He watched his perfect sun-kiss naked body that was now marked with angry red sports walk away from the bed into the bathroom.

That's when it hit him. He couldn't be serious! Taehyung was not going to leave him with blue balls was he? But he was and this was sadly not the first time. The younger should have learned his lesson by now, but he always falls for it.

When the elder came back into the room, his hair was wet and he still had water running down his neck, but he seemed relatively fresh dressed in one of the younger's large white shirts and sweats. Jungkook would have beamed at the fact that the elder was wearing his clothes, but he was still mad or tried to be mad, because unlike the older male, the younger who had gotten rid of his blue balls right there where the older had left him, with nothing but his hand, had not used a toy to relieve himself. He knew the older enough to know that Taehyung had finished his release with one of the toys he kept hidden in the younger male's drawers in the bathroom; also, he may or may not have heard him in the shower.

The elder male did not spare him any glance as he strode out of the bedroom and into the living room looking for his clothes,- surprisingly not limping. Jungkook followed curiously.

It has always been curiosity, wasn't it?

When he was done collecting his things, he walked over to the younger, where he was leaning on the wall and pinched his cheek lightly. "Stop frowning, you'll get wrinkles," he scolded playfully.

The younger's hands automatically went around the other's waist and pulled him in, but he kept his free hand between them. "As much as I'd like to stay and sex you the whole day, I have a date and I can't rain-check it,” he explained.

Maybe he noticed how the younger's face darkened or how his body tensed for a slight moment before the arms tightened even more, but he didn't point it out.

"A date that's better than me?" he asked.

The older shook his head, a grin spreading onto his face. "Not better," he cupped the younger's cheek and leaned in to give him a chaste minty kiss. "But one worth going to," he rested his forehead onto the younger’s, his eyes carrying the other’s.

He knew that he shouldn't be jealous. He shouldn't get mad that the elder had spent the night with him only to leave him when the sun came up the next day. This wasn't new; they've done this way too many times to each other, but he just thought...the child in him thought that the elder would spend the whole day lazing around with him; that he'd be the only person the elder male would want to spend the day with after coming back home.

They didn't even have to have sex; just spending the day doing nothing was enough for him. Don't get him wrong, the younger male knew that he was number one in the elder male's life (okay after the elder's mother), but he still had been Taehyung's first priority ever since they were kids.

"You know, you could always ask me to stay," the hand that had cupped his cheek before still lingered there, fingers slowly stroking his ears.

"I'll stay if you don't want me to go," the other murmured against his lips. He could see the truth in those brown doe eyes. He knew that the elder would drop anything he had planned without a heartbeat if he asked him to, just like he would do the same for him, but did he want him to?

Did he want the older male to stay just because he asked him to?

He shook his head, arms falling from the other's waist as he pulled away. "You should go, it would be rude to stand up someone just because I wanna fuck all day," he raised his hand to the elder’s head and leaned in to press a light kiss at his temple.

"Message me if the date sucks and you need rescuing," he joked, dropping a chaste kiss at the now quiet boy on the mouth then turning around to go back to his room to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jimin isn't as bad as the others say and nor is Namjoon, I mean, how would they have friends? I'm still not good at writing smut, - even after reading so many, I still suck at it, but I've tried?? I won't get too hardcore graphic with the smut, but I'll go a little deeper as the story progresses so don't worry. Anyways, what do you think of the two best friends? leave comments, kudos...scream at me, talk to me about your thoughts^^


	3. It's Not You, It's Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jimin carries his passport for emergencies. Tae doesn't like sharing and Jungkook is forever going to come late to classes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still amazed at the love this story is also getting, THANK YOU GUYS!! Jacks is back and did her magic, once again. Anyways!!! Enjoy!!^_^

Impatient and curious was how most of the students were at school on Monday.  And although the majority of them were still hangover from the non-stop activities they had partaken on the weekend, none of them thought of staying in sick; they all wanted to witness the return of Kim Taehyung with their own eyes.  
Some were happy that he was back and that things were going to change- a lot, and some wished he had remained wherever he had been hiding.

  
“He got kicked out; him and Wheein,” a girl from the art department told her friends at JUVEL, a small café across the university that many students frequented between classes.

She was one of the many pupils that assumed so. The majority of them had spent their weekend and mornings ‘discussing’ with their friends about Taehyung and Wheein’s return.

Whee In and Taehyung disappeared around the same time last year, with the older girl leaving a few weeks prior due to apparently getting expelled; - the rumor has been neither confirmed nor denied. As soon as she came back, people expected Taehyung to also return, but he didn’t. They all just assumed that he would, eventually.

“I heard she got surgery,” another girl had whispered when Whee In had raced passed them this morning, running to her morning class. 

“No, she got a boob job, I could swear that her boobs were an A-cup and now, look at them; they’re bigger than mine,” the group of girls continued. 

“Taehyung got a nose job,” to confirm their assumptions, they’d pulled out one of his old photos and his recent selfies at the party to compare.

“But wasn’t Brianne in rehab?” Someone asked.

“I wouldn’t even be surprised if they said she went to give birth.” 

Before Taehyung had left, he had been part of The Student Government Association, a body that represented the interests and acted upon the needs of the students attending the university. – the seats were exclusive, you could only gain a seat through an invitation, which had to be passed through all the members, 

He had also been on the school’s debating team, - it seemed tacky that a big university would have something like that and may have sounded boring to many, but it was actually one of the most exciting things for the school. The students that were part of the debating team were honor students, - okay, so not really, you just had to know how to sell your shit, but the team was good enough to enter and win competitions and secure each member extra credits.

But when Taehyung left, his seat on the SGA was given to Park Jimin and now everyone was curious to see whether he’d take it back from his friend and if so, how. 

Park Jimin was a very close friend of the peach haired male. The two having known each other since they were in pre-school. But unlike Taehyung, Jimin was not someone everyone liked. Yes, people envied him, feared him even; he was from a political family that had built its legacy and influence through many years of political control and that was how it was going to remain, hence, why he was studying what his parents wanted him to study and not that what he actually wanted. 

Doing something he’d rather not do was something he’d become accustomed to over the years, so pushing himself a few years more into doing what his parents asked him was a small sacrifice for his freedom, - that was what he liked to tell himself whenever he opened one of his textbooks and was tackled by words he wished he didn’t know but needed to in order to survive.

It was sometimes pathetic how he held onto the one thing that he hated the most. He hated sitting in the study hall up at night, going through thesis with his classmates, he hated the stupid assignments he’d have to pull all-nighters for to complete only to end up getting a good grade, not a very good, but just a semi good grade and that bothered him the most.

The fact that he did his best, his very best and his GPA was still not as high enough as he'd want it to be; he hated the fact that he had a reputation to uphold and was practically put on a pedestal by his family, that he couldn’t be himself when he wanted to. 

Jimin wasn’t the only one among his acquaintances that came from a wealthy family, however, he was one of the few that although they were not the eldest, they still had to live up to their family’s name. This being that Hyung had decided to boycott the path their parents had set for them. His older brother had secretly changed his major without his parents’ knowledge and when they found out he had already gotten a scholarship from a music institution overseas. Jimin was happy that his brother got to pursuit his dreams, - he wanted to become a music instructor, Jimin didn’t think much of teachers, don’t ask him why.

What annoyed him was the fact that his parents didn’t give his Hyung as much shitstorm as they’d all expected. Instead, all the expectations had been shifted onto the younger, him.  
It was not like he’d been off the hook of going down the same path as every member of the Park family, but he’d thought he could at least breathe a little while his parents’ attention was on his older brother,- that sink sunk years ago.  
The same ship that was also carrying everything that made him happy had long drowned under the deep sea and he wished he had been on it. His brother had ditched him and their dysfunctional family - not that he couldn’t understand him and at times he wondered what it would be like to also run away.

What if he took a taxi to the airport and boarded the first plane departing Korea? He could, he always had his passport with him just in case he someday got the guts to run away. How long will his parents take to realize that he was gone?   
How long would it take for them to find him?   
Jimin wasn’t dumb; he’d thought about his runaway plan more than enough times to know exactly what to do, but that’s what it was. It was just a thought, a thought that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t set into action.  


And this was what frustrated him the most.  The fact that he couldn’t just out and disappear without caring about responsibilities or duties or worry what his parents would do. 

He hated that Kim Taehyung could recklessly do whatever he wanted without a worry in the world. He hated how Taehyung waltzed around as if he was untouchable, how he didn’t have to lift a finger for everything he owned, how he didn’t have to prove himself to anyone else, but rather the other way around.  
He hated how everything Taehyung did would be turned into a spectacle; the younger male- though only by a few months, had left and it was the only thing people were talking about and now he comes back and it’s also the only talk everywhere Jimin goes.

At school it had almost been as worse as last Saturday when Taehyung had arrived at Namjoon-hyung’s birthday- the whole house had been in a buzz, not that it bothered the peach haired male if Jimin were to be honest. Taehyung loved the spotlight.

He loved being the center of attention wherever he went; Jimin could almost vouch that the latter had planned to surprise everyone only for that.

Jimin hadn’t stayed at the party long enough to meet Taehyung nor had he planned to, - he was scheduled to have breakfast with his parents the next day and didn’t feel like sitting there with his parents through a hangover- he’s done that once and it didn’t end up well.  
It also didn’t seem like Taehyung had been in a hurry to seeing him that night, -  _he had his phone number, it hasn’t changed since high school_ , he was too busy entertaining his group of fans. 

Maybe Jimin had lingered at the party a little longer than he had initially planned, a part of him hoping that Taehyung would send him a text asking for his whereabouts or even an emoji, - he had a habit of doing that when he wasn’t sure what to send to the other person, but none of that ever came. 

And maybe that’s why Jimin was mad at Taehyung again; for not only disappearing and not contacting him, but not even caring to notify him that he was back or reach out to him the second he got back. 

He’d apparently gotten back on Friday night, but today was Monday and the little shit hadn’t even called him once. He expected for the younger to at least show up at his apartment Monday morning, breakfast in hand an apologetic smile on his face, to which Jimin will first try to ignore but then give into and- ; fact, was that Taehyung had better things to do than come see his supposedly best bro.  
So Jimin wasn’t going to care either. He had other friends, real friends that didn’t contact him when it was convenient for them. He also had Yoongi, his long-term boyfriend- and although things weren’t going well the past few days, he knew that he could always count on the elder male.  
He didn’t need Taehyung’s friendship.

+

 

Da In was not one to listen to gossip, but since she’d arrived, she’d heard nothing but gossip about the campus’ royalty, - those are not her words. 

Where had he really been; to the States or maybe rehab? Did he just take a break or did he get expelled?  
What was with his sudden return? And now that he was back, were things going to change or go back to how they’d been before he left?

The students she passed in the halls kept murmuring to each other. A girl saw her passing and nodded in her direction, “Yeah, that’s her.” 

She heard her say not even caring to lower her voice.

“Does she actually think she’s made it into the group, that she’s one of them?” her friend sneered.

Da In increased her pace, what were they talking about?

She didn’t care about getting into  _the group_ , the one everyone else seemed so obsessed of. To be honest there was nothing special about it. It was just a bunch of spoiled rich kids that thought they could do whatever they wanted and albeit disliking each other, they still hang out for God knew whatever reasons.

“It’s her, right?” a boy at her. She recalled that his name was Mingyu and he was in her Psych class. He was standing with two girls one blonde and the other brunette, Da In recognized the blonde one from her Psych class as well.

The brunette girl leaned in and whispered something to the blonde still loud enough for everyone to hear. “I heard that she’s been making a move on Jungkook since she got here.”

Both girls gave her dirty looks as if she had done something wrong. What were they talking about? She hasn’t even talked to Jungkook even once, the only time she spoke with the younger male was when she was new and he’d come late to class and just taken a seat next to her, probably because he’d been too lazy to walk the whole way to the back.  He’d barely looked at her or even registered she was there. 

“A waste of time, Jungkook would never give her the time of day,” the blonde answered. Da In could hear giggles from her fellow classmates as she continued to walk. Were they following her? She could swear she could hear the two girl’s voices behind her as she walked.

“Obviously not now that Taehyung’s is back,” Brunette giggled.

Da In was about to turn around to snap at them but decided against it. She just wanted to get into the class and sit in a seat in the back near the window and draw something though she sucked at it, but could vent her anger on the painting. Today, the lesson was taking place in the atelier, something about  _ _change_  of scenery_ or some shit, but she didn’t really care.

She preferred working in the atelier anyways. The Atelier and the whole Arts department was in a detached building, slight off campus, but still on school grounds, facing the opposite side of the city. Da In didn't understand at first why they were not looking directly at the city as it would have made more sense than having the sports field and the back of Seoul as a scenery, but soon after the sun had stood above the horizon, she'd understood. It was the way the sun illuminated light through the big glass windows, providing light in every corner of the room that they hadn't needed any extra lights.

The first thing she noticed was that the room was louder and chaotic than usual. The students were all running up and down screaming and calling each other names.

She tried to remember when it had been like that but couldn’t remember. Had the students changed overnight? 

She stood there stuck in front of the class, right next to the teacher’s wide table when it hit her; it was more of a déjà vu. The atmosphere in the room was the same as the one on Saturday at Namjoon’s birthday when Taehyung had shown up.  
She didn’t have to search the room to find the onlypeach head in the room. He was standing in the back of the class, next to a window with a small group laughing. 

_He seemed to always have people around him._

Da In clutched the bag that contained her things tightly and matched to her seat that may not belong to her anymore.

Her assumptions were confirmed when she got to the seat and found a leather shoulder bag on the table. She wondered if she should just push the bag away and sit or find another seat but remembered that there were no empty seats.  
As if life hated her, Taehyung noticed her and waved at her. By the look on his face, it looked like he’d been waiting for her all along. He excused himself from the group and approached Da In. She swears that everything around her stopped moving, - the time included. 

“Hi, you must be Hobbie’s cousin,” he smiled at her.

His voice was even more beautiful up close. Gosh, how in the world could he sound like that and look like that? Da In was glad that she was sitting because right now her legs felt foreign and her heart was trying to jump out her ribcage.

“Yeah-yes, I’m Da In...hello, sunbae-nim” she stammered and bowed.

Shit! Shit!

Did she just bow at a ninety degrees at him? God, no!! Her life was over. This was obviously going to be the next gossip and she’d managed to make a fool of herself.

Taehyung waved his hand in the air nonchalantly, the smile still on his face and she swore he looked even more attractive. She wanted to reach over and touch his skin, feel the shape of his lips with her thumb finger- this was the artist in her talking.

“No one has called me that since I’ve returned, but you can just call me Taehyung,” he said. His voice was so smooth, so soft and so soothing. 

Though seated she felt her knees wobble and throat dry up. Maybe it was just her imagination, but he seemed to be glowing; there was some light beaming from behind him, around him - the clichéd light in movies that Da In swore she’d never experience.

Taehyung seemed to notice this because his smile just widened. “I wanted to ask you for a favor.” 

There was a glint in his eyes when he spoke and Da In felt a wave of goose bumps run through her body. 

What could Kim Taehyung want from her? Was there anything she could give him? 

“Sure,” her eyes traced the room for a moment to escape his gaze. Why did she feel uneasy in front of him all over sudden? Why did she feel like a gazelle facing a cheater?

It was like being under X-ray having those big innocent and yet stern eyes staring at you like that. His whole aura was inviting and had something warm about it, but his eyes were something else; soft around the edges and yet fierce.  
Looking into them was like falling into a daze. Da In bet Taehyung could make her do whatever he wanted and she wouldn’t refuse as long as he was looking at her like that. 

”Do you mind changing seats?” She heard him ask and turned her eyes back to him. He was looking at her with a lopsided smile, his long eyelashes fluttering as he waited for her to answer. 

Da In’s eyes narrowed subconsciously forcing herself not to react at her racing heart. How did people hold conversations with this guy?

“It’s just that this used to be my seat before I left and I’ll feel kind of weird sitting somewhere else in this room,” he explained when she didn’t respond. There was no sign of impatience or annoyance. He was her sunbae and could, therefore, tell her to scram and find another table, but he was asking patiently, friendly. 

_Something jimin wouldn't have done, a voice said in her head._

Her eyes caught the audience they’d attracted; the whole room was watching. Everyone was waiting to see what she’d respond, some even had their phones out; ready to send the next big news.

It was a trap, she realized.

“No, it’s okay. I mean it was your seat first. I’ll just go find another one.” She’d rather be embarrassed but have a peaceful school year. It wasn’t like she hadn’t expected the latter to want his old seat back. 

Taehyung gave her a tight-lipped smile.“I owe you; just name it anytime, anywhere,” he said. 

Da In nodded forcing a smile on her face, swallowing the lump in her throat.  She’ll definitely keep that in mind.

“Sungjae’s desk is big enough for three, I’m sure he doesn’t mind, right Hyung?” he told her when he saw her looking around. 

The guy, Sungjae who Taehyung addressed just lifted a thumbs up over his head without turning around to look at them; he was busy drawing a rainbow on the front board.

Taehyung turned back to Da In, wiggled his eyebrows and grinned as if he’s just scored the best deal of his life.

Da In felt her facial features mimic his. Was it weird that she somehow still liked him, although he was low-key kind of a prick? 

The professor entered the room just then and the small bubble that had somehow formed around her and the male dissolved and she could hear her classmates talking and moving about; some who were not even taking the class finally leaving the atelier, while some went back to their original seats. Da In also got up and went to her new desk with her new seatmates.

The professor started talking, but Da In couldn’t hear what she was saying, her mind was still going back to what had just happened. She still didn’t quite understand what she’d done, was it good or bad?   
She stared at Taehyung, who seemed to have forgotten about the episode and was looking at the professor with a blank expression. 

Her attention and probably everyone else's was, however, drawn away from whatever they were doing when the back doors to the atelier abruptly opened and Jungkook stepped in, not even tried to sneak in, but just walked in, clad in blue ripped jeans, a gray sweatshirt, and a red beanie on his head; looking like he’d just woken up. He glanced around the room until he found who he was looking for and then matched over and took a seat.

Their professor let out a loud disapproving sigh and called out Jungkook’s name. She was a young woman, probably in her late twenties, who wasn’t their actual professor, but had been assigned the class because their main professor was going through a divorce and he was not stable enough to teach or be around people for the time being.

“Mr. Jeon, see me after class.” She left no room for debate nor did he try to argue, but Da In assumed that he was used to it by now.

The lesson resumed, but Da In couldn’t help looking at the desk she had been cast away from; at the desk where Jungkook was laying his head on the table with Taehyung absently carding his hand through the younger’s fringe. There was something so intimate about the gesture that it made her insides turn and cheeks feel warm.

"Mr. Jeon, can I have a word with you?" The adjunct professor tried to put authority in her voice as she spoke the young man's name. She could feel how all the students that were now packing their stuff away and beginning to leave stare at her accusingly. The girls were murmuring things to each other and eyeing her sideways.

"As if!" One of them said walking passed her. Maybe she'd chosen the wrong time to speak to him. She could have waited until he was alone.  
She tried to distract herself by packing her things away and seconds after the atelier was empty with the exception of two students.

Jungkook and his new desk mate, Kim Taehyung. The young adjunct professor saw him for the first time today and although she’d heard that they’ll be a new student in her class, she had not known what to expect. But whatever it was, the young male exceeded it whichever way. 

His hair was a reddish, orange hue that should look ridiculous, but he looked so good with it that she wondered how in the world someone could look that good with a hideous color on their head.  

She didn’t know what was so interesting about the boy; maybe it was the way he’d looked at her while she’d taught or the way he had smiled at her when she’d gotten his name wrong three times in a row, making her blush furiously.                    Or maybe it was because she’d caught him staring at her while everyone else was supposed to be busy coming up with a theme for their first partner project, but he hadn’t looked away like she’d expected him to. No, he had tilted his head and given her a once over and then smirked,  _he’d smirked at her_ , then turned his head to his desk mate who was staring out the window idly.

He’d then hit the younger on the back, causing him to look at him with a frown, but he didn’t seem mad, rather he pushed his Hyung slightly away from him, who then hit him more until the younger actually grabbed the elder’s notepad- note that the younger had not brought a bag or anything with him- and a pencil and began scribbling something down, while the elder leaned over, wrapped his arm around his shoulders and looked down at whatever was being noted while he spoke.   
That’s how they sat throughout the lesson and the professor fought the urge to tell them to separate, but she didn’t want to be  _that teacher_. 

The two seemed to be discussing something at their desk, then Taehyung turned around and looked at her. Embarrassed and caught off guard she turned away immediately hiding her flustered self. Really??

She heard footsteps approaching and prepared herself to face the sun-kissed male. Wherever he’d been during the summer, he did everything right with his tan. For she had one of those skin tones that could not tan whatsoever and she hated it. 

"How can I help you?" she asked, mouth falling open when it was not Taehyung who had approached her, but Jungkook.

"There're a lot of things I need help in but I'm not sure you can help there," the brunette male answered, a smirk on his features. 

She cleared her throat trying to look and sound professional for the new student who was now approaching them.  
"I wanted to talk to you about something," she said, eyeing Taehyung who had now reached them and was playing with one of the rings on his fingers. 

"I'm all ears," Jungkook spoke playfully, leaning on one of the desks with his back hip.

She cleared her throat again; her hand raising to brush something invisible off the tip of her nose, then it slipped down to her throat, stroking soothingly,- a habit she tended to do when she was anxious.

Taehyung noticed a little jewelry on her right finger. It wasn't big but Taehyung knew an engagement ring when he saw one. The professor seemed to notice this too; she retrieved her hand back to her side quickly.  

Was the other male going to stay? Jungkook seemed to notice her uneasiness; he sighed and turned sideways to face the elder male. "Hyung, aren't you keeping your little fan club waiting?" he asked, a playful grin on his face.

The elder male mimicked his grin, raised his arm to ruffle the younger's bangs, “What will I ever do without you, Jungkookie?” he mused sarcastically, then turned to the professor, gave her a slight bow and turned around to leave the atelier through the back doors, but not before sending a soft smile her way.

Jungkook cleared his throat to grab the young woman's attention after the doors closed had long closed and she was still staring after his Hyung. 

She blinked a few times and tried to find his face when she realized that he’d probably been watching her instead of Taehyung leave. 

"He's fascinating isn't he?"  He asked her knowingly, almost prideful.

The woman swallowed audibly, "He knows how to leave an impression," she replied, wiping the invisible sweat off her face with the back of her hand.

"S' one of his best qualities," he replied fondly.

"Are you good friends with him?" Her eyes widened the second she realized what she'd asked. Why was she asking about the latter?

Jungkook didn't seem to care and if he did, he didn't show it. "You could say so."  He was holding a dry paint brush and was now fiddling with it in his fingers.

"But I don't think that the reason you asked me to stay behind was to ask me about Tae." He raised a brow at her, a smirk back on his face. She noted that he was always smirking at her as if he knew something she didn't.

The professor looked around the atelier to make sure they were alone and that the doors were both completely shut.

"The reason why I asked you to stay back was because I wanted to ask how you were doing."

His smile faded for a split second but just to be replaced by a small chuckle. "The right question is what are you thinking at the moment?" He threw back.

She was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, we kissed the other day -" he held his brush in the air to correct his words. "I meant I kissed you right after you caught me with a bong in the council lounge." They both knew that they'd done more than kissing.

"Shhh!!" she put a finger in front of her mouth while jabbing at his chest with her other index finger to stop him from talking. He still remembers? She'd figured that he'd have forgotten about that day considering the fact that he had been inebriated, but apparently not.   
He grasped her hand, making her stop her finger movements when she felt his warm hand on her wrist.  She tried to pull away, but he held onto her wrist, firmer, not too tight to hurt, but just enough so she couldn’t pull away. 

"Aren't you going to report me?"

He'd spent the whole weekend thinking about the best excuse he'd give when he got called to the dean's office, but came up with nothing. He didn't have any excuse apart from telling the truth. Of course, he wouldn't give out the name of his suppliers when asked, but he'd known that he was going to get kicked out of the school and his grandfather would have a fit.   
He thought about it for a second, it wasn't bad, he wouldn't mind if he got kicked out of school for a change instead of his grandfather or godmother always getting him out of trouble.   
But after not getting any call over the weekend and not being called in by the principal this morning, he figured she hadn't snitched on him or told anyone.

"I was going to report it, but it was the first time, so a warning will be enough," she answer her cheeks flashing when she felt his thumb rub circles inside her palm.

"But it wasn't the first time I’ve used drugs on school grounds and you didn't give me a warning," he told, voice sultry, pulling her in slowly.

She didn't know when she had ended up so close to him or one of his arms hands on her waist. 

Good, Lord. Her face was now pure red and her heart was racing like crazy. No, she was not supposed to feel anything. This was her student, who happened to be in a relationship.

And she was engaged for Godssakes!

"But it was the first time I saw you," she argued, voice barely a whisper. She had to think, of her fiance, her husband to be.

"And the kiss?" he asked, his face getting closer to her's, his dark chocolate eyes capturing hers. 

What was the name of her fiancé, again?

For a split second, reality seemed to catch up to her and she came to her senses. She turned her face to the side to avoid his lips and pulled her arms away from his hold, she immediately turned her back on him. "I assume you needed some company, you would have kissed any girl that had crossed your path," she said, part of her hoping he’d deny it. 

Why?

He shook his head. "What if I told you that it was not true? What if I told you, I kissed you because I wanted to?" he asked. 

She didn’t have to turn around to know that he had one eyebrow raised, the side of his lip curled into a half smirk.  
But even with that knowledge, she turned around; he was grinning confidently. She felt something twist inside her chest. 

"So you're over your girlfriend?" she asked him.

He pursed his lips, eyes narrowing. Which girlfriend? He hadn't been with a girl recently, none he'd call his girlfriend. 

"Sorry, I meant the girlfriend who left you," she explained. 

Oh.

"We were never together; she just left town," he tried to keep his voice even.  
"I know, you told me that on Thursday." 

"I've moved on," he said nonchalantly.

Of course, he had. If the hickey’s that were now decorating his neck and the big bite mark right under his Adam’s apple were to go by then he’d spent the whole weekend moving on.

The silence was pierced by a loud gong from the back of the room and both of them looked around frantically, before realizing that it was the clock on the wall indicating that it was midday.

Young Sun released a breath of relief and watched how Jungkook stood there, staring into space.

"Don't worry, our secret is safe with me as long as you don't say a word to anyone," she assured him. 

He nodded, a smile back on his face again, but not reaching his eyes. 

"Jungkook?" she called, when he gave her a slight bow and turned around to leave without saying anything else.

He turned back around sideways, his eyebrows raised. 

"Don't let me catch you again, this time, I'll really have to report you."

"Maybe I'll kiss them as well and they'll pretend it never happened," he replied.  
"I’m serious.” She warned, trying to keep her voice stern.

“So am I,” he deadpanned.

"Also stop coming late; either come on time like everyone else or don't show up at all," she spoke.

"How much do you give for appearance?" he asked, thoughtfully.  
"I don't. I can't do that since I'm not your main professor."

He gave her an innocent smile. "Then I'm sorry, Young Sun, I'm afraid I can't make it on time to your class, it's not you, it's me." 

She stood there, blinking at him, confused about the whole situation. 

“Okay, then…I’ll see around.” She stammered, turning her back to him again. She heard him chuckle and then light footsteps echoed through the atelier as he approached the back doors.

It was after he was gone that she realized what he had said and how he had addressed her. 

Crap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tae is kinda of low-key an ass, is he though? Do you also think he got rid of the right girl or nah? :D  
> I really wanted this chap to have Yoonmin, but I couldn't. Some of the things wouldn't have made sense without the Taekook parts. Next chap will have Yoonmin together, I promise^^


	4. Fake Coffee Cup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As I had promised this chap is more Yoonmin centric, even if you're a Taekook shipper it's worth reading and not skipping (Taekook is mentioned :P)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jacky is back and working her magic once again^^

Yoongi walked along the street holding a cup of coffee, - that didn’t really contain coffee, in his hands. He knew that he could get in a lot of trouble if he got caught but it didn’t faze him.

He walked quickly to get to the awaiting car a few blocks away. Why did the goddamn driver have to park the whole way up the hill? He cursed himself for getting a ride from Hoseok instead of bringing his own car this morning, just because he’d been too lazy to find his car keys.

“You seem to be in a rush,” he heard a voice speak him from behind. He slowed down, turning his head to the side to check who it was.

“Never sneak up on someone holding a fake coffee cup, Kid,” He hissed continuing to walk.

His friend chuckled, took a few long strides until he was walking next to him. “Got the usual?” he asked, nodding at the coffee cup in Yoongi’s hand.

One of Yoongi’s hobbies was dealing. While the others just used it every now and then, Yoongi had made it his duty to start dealing; he didn’t sell the drugs directly but was more of a mediator. He was the guy most people went to when they needed someone who could sell them what they needed; the guy that most customers and sellers went through when they wanted to stay anonymous.

It wasn’t like he needed the money, he just did it to suffice his dullness and supposed impeccable life. He was supposed to be the perfect older son of the Mins, the one that was attending one of Seoul’s privilege universities and was going to carry the family’s legacy after graduating.

His future was an already written down; his parents have already planned what he’ll be doing in the future and, if he wasn’t mistaken, who his partner will be in the future, -that would probably be his current and long-term boyfriend Park Jimin.

Jimin was the former prime minister’s grandson and son of both Minister of Unification (mother) and Minister of National Defense (father); his younger boyfriend, therefore, had a reputation to keep as well, as he also had his future planned out, just like most of the other well off kids.

It was enough for your parents to plan out your whole future, but also controlling your every move and criticizing them too, was too much. Nothing they did on their own was good; they always had to do it the way their parents wanted it to be done.

_“It’s for your future; someday you’ll come to understand,” his father had told him._

But was it really? Were their parents really doing all this for their kids or for themselves; for that little child in them that never got what they wanted?

To him, his parents were just trying to fulfill their childhood dreams through their kids and it was pissing him off. Parents or not, they didn’t have the right.

He tilted his head to look up at the younger male, a smug grin on his face. “Don’t tell me you still need some, as far as we both know you don’t have a reason to keep using it anymore.”

“I didn’t take it because of him,” Jungkook said.

Yoongi nodded and turned his attention back to where he was walking. “You were depressed because he had left. Wasn’t that the reason you started in the first place?” he was mocking him.

Yoongi was all very aware of Taehyung and Jungkook’s feelings for each other. What he could never understand was what was going on between them. He knew that Jungkook adored or even idolized Taehyung to the point of getting high, and Taehyung being in love with Jungkook. That much he knew, but what irritated him was that the two couldn’t just drop the best friend charade and get together already.

He’s watched Jungkook become intimate with girls every day like he was chasing after something and Taehyung date around, but just to end up dumping every one of them pretty much after the fourth day. They both couldn’t stick to other people for a long period of time.

“I had other reasons,” the brunette male responded, voice nonchalant, but Yoongi could always see right through him.

It was too pathetic to have to witness such nonsense. The two were inseparable, you hurt one the other gets hurt as well, and that’s how it’s always been. Taehyung always stuck up for Jungkook; he would do anything for the younger and Jungkook the same. To put it short, their worlds revolved around each other and that was exactly why it had been hard on Jungkook when Taehyung had suddenly disappeared.

Yoongi shrugged. “Either way, your TaeTae’s back, you can go back to obsessing over him and loving him in the shadows,” he smirked.

“Speaking of loving, are you and Jimin going to the Post-Summer event?” he ignored his Hyung’s remark and decided to change the subject.

The Post-Summer event was a small party that took place on the last September weekend every year. Although many knew of the small event, no one had an idea what to expect. The event was secretive and exclusive. There were also rules on attending the event, each of them varying on the hosts each year. What everyone also knew was that the Post-Summer event was the most talked about event after the summer vacation, because mostly everyone attended it.

“It’s Jimin-Hyung,” Yoongi corrected stopping to stare into the distance as if searching for something and sighed. “It’s a must; before we were going because he had to attend for appearance but now that Tae’s back, it’s more of a competition.”

“He’s hasn’t let go has he?” Jungkook said.

He shook his head. “It’s getting kind of old, the whole jealousy and who’s better at this and that crap. They’re best friends but act like rivals.”

“Jimin doesn’t have anything to worry about; he’s got the whole town bowing down at him.”

Yoongi rolled his. “As I said, this whole status shit is getting old.”

“it's how their friendship’s always been,” Jungkook deadpanned.

Yoongi scoffed. “Seriously, how long have you been high exactly? It’s not just the two.” He paused to stare at the distance again.

“Jimin’s convinced Tae is going to take everything he gained the past year away from him.”

Jungkook frowned. “He wouldn’t do that.”

“We both know that. But Jimin’s…” the shorter male run a hand through his grayish hair. “He likes being in control, but when Tae’s around, people don’t listen to him as much.” He rolled his eyes at the absurd statement. He’s had enough arguments with Jimin over that matter that he didn’t want to think about it.

“He just needs to understand that it’s not Taehyung or anyone else; he just can’t order people around as he likes,” He said, looking back into the distance.

“Doesn’t he already do that to you?” Jungkook asked a smirk in his voice.

Yoongi grunted annoyed, “I have to wear a stupid white tux and go to a stupid event, does that answer your question, Jeon?” he asked and began to walk, this time, crossing the road to get to the car that had arrived.

“I thought the whole idea of moving out and living by yourself was so you could be independent and your own boss?”

“This is coming from a guy that lets his best friend get rid of the girls he screws, while he happens to be in love with the said best friend, do you really expect me to take you seriously?” Their little tête-à-tête had stopped being teasing to calling each other out.

The two weren’t much different from Jimin and Taehyung; except that, for Taehyung and Jimin it was a war while for the Yoongi and Jungkook it was just harmless arguing.

“Says the guy that has been dating Park Jimin his entire life,” at this point none of them could stop their words from coming out.

Yoongi halted when he got to the car; he turned around before opening the car door to send a death glare at the younger male.

“You can speak about my relationship when you stop being a fuckboy or actually manage to cut ties with your little skunks without Taehyung’s help,” he snarled at him.

Jungkook stood upright, lifted his chin in the air and clench his jaw; emphasizing their size difference. Yoongi might be the older one, but Jungkook was the one with the built body and if it came down to it, Yoongi knew that the younger could knock him out. Jungkook didn’t say it, but the older male got the silent warning.

“I get laid whenever I want and can breathe freely, unlike someone else,” the younger smirked, voice unfazed.

Yoongi’s eyes narrowed not letting Jungkook see that he had somehow managed to intimidate him with how he was towering over him. “At least, I had the balls back then to ask Jimin out unlike you; being melodramatically in love with someone but not having the balls to admit it to yourself.”

Jungkook’s smirk didn’t shift and this angered the older male even more. He knew he was wrong, since he’d been the one who had breached the topic of Kim Taehyung. He knew that whenever someone said anything bad about Taehyung, Jungkook would go cold and defensive, regardless of the person.

Taehyung was a sensitive topic to the younger male and yet, Yoongi had to let his frustration out; at least a small part of it.

“Do you know what’s more messed up than my relationship with Jimin?” he didn’t let him answer. “The way Taehyung’s got you wrapped around his finger.” His lips curled up to the side, a mocking grin settling there.

“Do you know why he came back?” he asked.

Jungkook’s mask shifted to nonchalance. “This is his home, isn’t that enough?”

“Why he really went away?”

Yoongi never bought the lie Jungkook told him that Taehyung just wanted to get away.

“Why are you digging in the dirt, he’s back that’s all that matters, isn’t it?” Jungkook asked him.

“We both know, I’m not the only curious person around here. Most of the people going to the damn event this weekend are only attending for his sake,” Yoongi responded, voice back to nonchalance.

“Then it’s sad that they only live for the rumors,” the brunette answered and turned around to walk away.

Yoongi opened the car door and then called the younger male before he stepped into the car.

“I assume if he's coming, he’s gonna’ need a date. Are you escorting him?”

Jungkook didn’t turn back around when he responded. “I’m not going and Tae’s never had a problem in getting a date.”

## +

 

Taehyung looked at the digital clock on his phone and tried to recall when he’d arrived; it’s almost been two hours. Two hours since he’s been waiting for Hoseok to arrive, but he hasn’t seen the trainee. If Taehyung didn’t know better, he’d say that the other male was avoiding him.

He decides to wait another hour and then leave if the said male doesn’t show up. No one knew that he was here and he couldn’t risk Jimin coming back early from the event and finding him in his shared apartment with Hoseok; that was one awkward reencounter he was not ready to face.

Taehyung has been avoiding Jimin the whole week and although he knows that his friend is mad at him, he still can’t get himself to approach the latter. He is not ready for Jimin’s drama, so he’s been buying time, although he was sure that soon or later he’s gonna have to speak to Jimin.

But first, he needed to speak to Hoseok.

Taehyung found out from a source that Hoseok was not able to attend the Post-Summer event, which meant that the trainee was either at the company or at home or on his way home and Taehyung would wait, for another hour that is.

He had just started to drift into wonderland when he heard the front door of the apartment open and shut with a loud bang then it was opened again and closed silently.

Taehyung’s eyes flew open immediately as he heard the light switches being pressed frantically and saw the whole apartment light up. His heart started to race, body in alarm as his mind told him that whoever had arrived wasn’t Hoseok. He didn’t have to see the new intruder to know that it was Jimin and probably Yoongi who had come back a few hours too early. Taehyung scurried to hide, before realizing that the couch he was lying on was convenient and could shield him from the two realizing that he was there; that was of course if the two only stayed downstairs and didn’t intend on coming upstairs, because he’d be the first thing they’d see and by judging by the way the two had entered the apartment, things weren’t jolly.

 

+

 

“I’m fed up, I’m tired, and I’ve had enough, Yoongi!” Jimin shouts walking into his shared apartment with Hoseok only to stop in his tracks, not sure of where to go.

The room is illuminating so much light and the black haired male doesn’t know why he’d switched on so many lights. It had been his first instinct, first to bang the front door multiple times, but he didn’t want to draw any attention from the neighbors, the light switches had been the nearest object to him and he’d pressed on them like a mad man hoping for something to happen, but that wasn’t enough.

Jimin needs more; he needs to break something heavier.

“I’m sorry what do you want me to say?” Yoongi asks him.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to calm his nerves down. His hands are shaking, shaking from the urge to do something, shaking because he’s so frustrated and he feels like he’s about to blow up.

“Exactly,” he snaps, eyes opening and turning back around to face his boyfriend.

“ _Sorry sorry sorry_ , that’s all you keep on saying, but they’re just empty words; they don’t have a meaning to you, because if they did, you wouldn’t have made them into a fucking mantra!” He’s just so fed up, so tired of Yoongi doing shit and not being considerate of him; he’s just so tired of having to act like everything is fine when it’s clearly not.

He’s just so tired of watching everyone express themselves however they want and expect him to be serene.

“Look, I know last year when Taehyung left, things went—” Yoongi tries to say, but Jimin cuts him off with a scoff.

“It’s not about him,” he bellows, hand running through his hair once.

“Not everything is about Taehyung! No matter how much I’d actually want to blame this on him, but it’s not: it’s you because it’s not me.”

It’s quiet for a long while in the room, Jimin’s chest rising and falling as he watches and waits for Yoongi to finally grasp his words, but the older male is far too gone to comprehend. His pupils are blown, eyes bloodshot red, hair messy and his white tux looking like it got dragged somewhere in the gutter. –Maybe not, but to Jimin it might as well have.

Jimin sighs and runs a hand through his dark hair again. He opens his mouth to speak and this time, his voice is calm, but only because he’s forcing it. “It was before he left, things between us weren’t working out and you know that.”

Things haven’t been good between them for months now, what with them constantly taking a break from each other, but…

“But we made it; we survived another year again, don’t you think it’s worth fighting for another?” Yoongi pulls out a small liquor flask from his blazer and takes a quick sip before tucking it back.

“That’s exactly what I mean: you can’t spend a day without being drunk or getting high. Where do you see us in five years, Yoongi?”

_~~Can’t you at least hold a conversation with me while sober?~~ Jimin wants to ask but bites the inside of his lower cheeks._

Yoongi is too intoxicated to notice the state Jimin is in, just like he’s always been these few days. His words come out in struggles as if he has to translate each other word into normal Korean before actually speaking them out loud.

“Are you mad at me for what happened at the party? I told you, I didn’t give that kid anything,” his voice is yet still indifferent.

Jimin shakes his head. “I know he didn’t get the drugs from you, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that you were there and on top of that working, while we were supposed to be attending the event as a couple!” He feels like his head is about to explode.

“Tell me Hyung, what’s so fun about it?”

Yoongi’s face shifts at the younger calling him Hyung; he takes a step forward, but Jimin retreats and he stops. Jimin doesn’t want him near him, he doesn’t want the older male to hug and lie to him once again that everything was okay, when it clearly wasn’t.

“Explain to me the pleasure of finding and selling drugs to others, the pleasure of being high all the time; what’s so great about Min Fucking Suga?” He spits the name like its venom on his tongue.

Once upon a time, Jimin had been fascinated with Min Suga, but had fallen in love with Min Yoongi.

It wasn’t like Jimin hadn’t known of Yoongi’s hobbies when he met him back in high school. Jimin had been fully aware of the fact that Suga, as Yoongi called himself _on the streets,_ was toxic. Maybe it had been the reason why he’d been drawn to the elder male. Though also coming from a prestigious household, Min Yoongi was someone Jimin shouldn’t have approached or even started dating.

But the elder male had been exciting and full of surprises. Yoongi had not expected Jimin to act a certain way, he had not put him in a box like everyone else, but encouraged him to get out of the box. The older male had been what Jimin had needed to make up for what he was going through during that time.

“I’m sorry,” the older male says, yet again.

This only gets Jimin even madder. “Shut up! SHUT UP! Don’t even dare open your mouth if the only words are going to come out is ‘I’m sorry’, you have no idea how much I hate those words.”

In the last few years, he always had to listen to Yoongi apologize and tell him how sorry he was, for whatever he had screwed up, but today was the last day. It was going to end today once and for all.

“You can’t just always say ‘I’m sorry’ and write me a song and expect everything to be okay.”

He scratches his head. “Do you want me to compose you an album?”

Jimin can’t believe his ears. Was he serious? Out of all the imprudent things he could’ve said, this was the stupidest of all. Out ofanger, he takes off one of his ankle boots he’s still wearing and throws it at his boyfriend.

Yoongi saw him taking it off, but didn’t think that he was going to throw it at him and moreover aim at his chest. He rubs the spot where the boot had hit and stares at the younger male bewildered.

“Did you just throw a shoe at me?”

Jimin doesn’t respond, but instead takes off the second boot and throws at him as well, but this time, Yoongi is alert and catches the shoe before it connects with his face.

He throws the shoe on the wooden floor right next to the other one and smirks up at the enraged male.

“You don’t have more shoes to throw.”

No, Jimin was wrong. Yoongi was actually capable of raising the stupidity bar. He looks around the foyer of the apartment for something he could throw at his boyfriend and his eyes land on a stack of books.

“We’re done! We’re through; this is it!” He yells as he throws book after book at the elder male until there’re no more books to throw.

Looking at where the books had landed, Jimin is sure that none of them had hit the elder male and he’s not sure whether to be glad or disappointed. A part of him didn’t really want to hurt Yoongi, while the other part of him wanted to see him bleed.

They both stand there, both of their chests rising and falling rapidly, breathes being drawn loudly. Jimin notices Yoongi sobering up as the words he’s just yelled catch up to him, and he feels his eyes begin to sting and tears pull around his lids, his head is throbbing and he knows that when morning comes, he’s be nursing a killer headache.

His heart starts to throb almost painfully as he takes in Yoongi’s worried and hesitant expression. His hands shake visibly because he’s fighting himself not to reach out to the elder male and ask him to hold him tight; he’s forcing himself not to cry and plead with him to forget what he’s just said. He doesn’t want a break up; they’ve barely gotten back together, they can’t be separating again. Jimin needs him, he wants to scream at the elder male for letting him go this far, but he doesn’t.

He takes a deep breath and looks at Yoongi with as much conviction as he can muster.

“This weekend was the stroke for us,” he holds a finger up when the elder male opens his mouth to protest.

He nibbles on his lower lip, feeling tears escaping and rolling down his cheeks, he wipes them away hastily. “We were perfect,” he sniffs, a sad smile appearing on his face.

“You were perfect for me.”

Both he and Yoongi don’t miss the past tense in his statement, but it still doesn’t stop the older male from approaching him and this time Jimin doesn’t retreat, he continues to speak while tears stream down his face.

“But Hyung, that perfect ship sunk long ago. We shouldn’t have kept on trying to sail on its broken parts,” he hiccups and chuckles sadly.

“I’m not going to blame you for something that I’m also partly responsible for,” he whispers when Yoongi reaches him and they both stand a breath away from each other. His arms act on their own accord; one hand wraps itself around the elder male’s neck, finger’s carding through the soft locks, while his other hand cups the other’s face, thumb stroking around his lips.

Yoongi’s hands are around his waist, he pulls him in and Jimin lets out a breath, as he takes in the elder male’s familiar touch. He rests his forehead on the elder male’s and tries to hold his gaze.

“I don’t think you know how much I love you, Hyung,” he whispers softly. Yoongi squeezes lightly on his sides and he laughs brokenly. The elder male didn’t have to say it out loud; he could practically hear him chastise him for his accusation.

Jimin shakes his head.

“I know. I know that you love me,” he’s not lying; he knows how much the elder male loves him, but sometimes, love isn’t enough.

His fingers move to stroke behind the elder’s ears and Yoongi closes his eyes. “You see Hyung, in the beginning, you were the right antidote that I needed, but I became addicted like a junkie and although we ended up breaking up every now and then, I always came back for the fix. But I don’t want the fix anymore.”

Jimin tastes his tears on his lips, but before he can wipe them away, Yoongi is already doing it for him.

He looks into the elder male’s eyes and he knows that he’s also holding back tears. Yoongi wasn’t one to cry, he rarely cried. Jimin has seen the older male get furious and trash things and even come close to tears, but never in tears.

“I’m not happy being with you and nor are you happy with me. We’ve been making each other miserable for a while, but I can’t keep walking this road with you,” his voice croaks at the end, but he forces himself to go on.

His arms tighten around the older male as he rests his head in the crook of his neck, eyes closed. “As much as I love you Hyung, I also hate you. And as much as I like the person I’ve become while being with you, I also hate him, too. _~~You’re no longer my safe haven.~~_ ” He places a soft kiss on the side of the older male’s neck and lets his hands fall.

Yoongi releases him immediately and Jimin steps away. They both look at each other; small puffy red eyes meet equally puffy, but bloodshot eyes.

“Is this what you really want?” Yoongi asks voice groggy and empty.

Jimin nods. “Yes,” he responds, fists clenching into a ball on his sides.

Yoongi regards him for a moment and Jimin forces himself not to break down or take back his words.

“You don’t want to sleep on it?” the older male asks once again and Jimin shakes his head.

Yoongi takes a deep breath. He knows where Jimin is coming from.

He also knows that the younger male is right; it has been a matter of time until one of them lashed out.

If Yoongi were, to be honest to Jimin then he’d confess to the younger male that he was also fed up with the relationship. He’d tell him that that was the reason why he kept provoking him so that the younger male would break up with him, because he was too much of a coward.

He’d tell him that he hasn’t been happy with him for a long time, but instead, he doesn’t.

He wipes the stray tears on his cheeks and nods, once, twice, reaches out to hold the younger male in his arms one last time and presses a kiss on his temple and then leaves him to cry himself through the night.

Yoongi does not turn back around once he leaves Jimin’s apartment and walks to the elevators. He also doesn’t look back when he’s sitting in a taxi taking him to the address he gives the driver.

He pretends he doesn’t hear Jimin’s cries all the way into his subconscious; that the goosebumps crawling onto his skin are due to the cold wind coming in from the open window, - that the tears running down his face are due to his eyes being sensitive to the wind.

If the taxi driver hears his silent sobs, he doesn’t say a thing, but rather increases the volume of the radio and Yoongi chuckles sadly at how pathetic he must seem.

Nevertheless, he appreciates the gesture and stares out at the busy night, ignoring the cold feeling squeezing around his heart.

 

+

 

Jimin keeps on staring at the door minutes after Yoongi has walked out. It doesn’t make sense in his mind. He just can’t make sense of what has actually taken place a few minutes ago.

Did he just end a ten-year-old relationship? Were he and Yoongi really broken up, for good? Did he let him walk out of his life like that?

Panic begins to catch to him.

What was he going to do? How was he going to act around him, but mostly what were the people going to say? This was going to be the latest gossip.

He sniffs. Was he going to cry? No, he can’t feel any tears or anything other than the hollow feeling inside.

It takes him a few more minutes of him staring at the closed front door; a part of him expecting it to open and Yoongi to walk right back through it and another hoping he doesn’t, but after standing for so long and feeling dizzy, he decides to go lay down.

He turns around to walk to his room, but halts in his tracks before he can take a step, a gasp escapes from his mouth when he takes in the sight that awaits him at the bottom of the stairs to Hoseok’s bedroom.

New tears run down his face, this time rapidly as he laughs and cries at the same time, while Taehyung hugs him and reminds him of the feeling of home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you expect the break-up?? I know their relationship hasn't been explained that much, but I'll venture more into it, don't worry, They're not over, yet xD But hey!! Tae and Jimin have finally met again, even if it had to happen after the break-up. But can we talk about how Jungkook got low-key pissed at Yoongi poking at him? Or how Tae was waiting for Hoseok?


	5. What Do You Want?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited &longer version of chap 5: new title 
> 
> Tae is a schemer and he's good at it. Also last time it was Jungkook who was mulling, pining-ish over Taehyung, but this time we have Tae basically admitting that he doesn't like sharing Jungkook with anyone not even with his friends. Who do you think is more obsessed between the two? :D
> 
> Also Jimin goes home to get away from Yoongi and runs into his parents. Hoseok and Whee In go out for a drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, I know that I technically already posted this chap on my B-day, but I'd promised a better written and edited version of it and here it is. I've added two new parts which will be every interesting to read and added something at the Taekook part ;)

 

**Part 1**

 

Whee In stopped flirting with the guys on the dance floor and turned her attention back to her friend. "Do you want to talk about it?”

The black haired trainee just shrugged. "Ask me again after a few more shots," he said, downing a shot of whatever in one-go.

It was Thursday night and although both of them had classes in the morning, the two friends decided to go grab some drinks. The trainee’s week hadn’t been going so well and he just needed a distraction. He needed someone to hang out with; someone who was going to drink with him and listen to his nothings. Whee In was the best option.

Although she was his boss’ daughter, the freshly blonde girl was a sweetheart and fun to hang out with and the trainee enjoyed her company. But tonight didn’t seem to do the trick, even with her around. Normally it would take Hoseok a couple hours of practice and a few drinks to take away his edge, but it didn’t seem to work. Maybe it was because it was Thursday, the day before he was supposed to go back home- life was a bitch and it was showing him that lately. First, Taehyung, of all people, had to come back and mess him up again and then Jimin and Yoongi break up, once again and ruin his sanctuary at his own apartment. But of course that wasn’t enough, his stepmother number four somehow convinced his father that their relationship would improve if they went on a short trip together.

He didn’t understand why Cindy was trying so damn hard, they both knew that his dad was going to divorce her eventually. Hoseok was used to his father’s companions; he knew the cliché, no, was actually living it. He was the perfect example of a child caught in between his parents’ separation. Hoseok didn’t know all the details about his parents’ life together or their divorce since his father wouldn’t speak of his mother, but from what he’s heard from the Ahjumma who has been taking care of him since he was a baby, was that his mother had fallen in love with a Spanish man she’d met in Milan– his mother had a weakness for Spanish or accents, Hoseok wasn’t sure, but Manuel had turned out to be an actor and his mother had been hooked. She’d decided to divorce his father immediately, hadn’t even cared about the compensation money or dividing their property, all she’d wanted was to be free from Hoseok’s father ASAP.

“It appeared like she had been trapped all this time and had been looking for something, a sign maybe and when she got it, she didn’t think twice. She had been in a hurry to leave as if afraid that she would change her mind and not go,” the Ahjumma had told him one day.

“But she loves you,” she’d add. Both of his parents loved him and they had fought strongly for his custody, but in the end, his father had won and his mother had moved to Spain with Manuel, the love of her life and was having the time of her life.

While here, his father was ruining Hoseok’s life. The dancer hadn’t had anything against his father’s first girlfriends, but after a while, they became too many and too young that he wasn’t even surprised nor did he care about being nice to them and getting to know them, because they never stayed, they all got dumped or dumped his father. That was how it was.  
It wasn’t like there hadn’t been one he hadn’t liked, his father’s second wife, Flora had been nice and the right age, but she had turned out to be schizophrenic, just like Debra, his father’s fifth girlfriend had turned out to love everything that a Surgeon could offer. How his father had met all these psychos he had no idea.

Cindy and his father dated for eight months before deciding to tie the knot and have been married for two years now, and the dancer had to admit that this was his father’s longest marriage, yet. She’s even lasted longer than Hoseok’s mother had, but it was a matter of time until she also turned out to have some kind of complex they hadn’t noticed before.

But he had to give her credit for one thing; out of all his step moms, Cindy was the only one who hadn’t given up on trying to build a close relationship with the dancer. She claimed to know how Hoseok was feeling because she also had been raised by a divorced couple. She was wrong, she didn’t know how Hoseok was feeling; even Hoseok didn’t know how he was feeling. To put it frankly, he wasn’t feeling any specific type of way, just tired. He had stopped caring, getting upset or disappointed. It was rare for him to let go and enjoy himself or laugh silly like Whee In. 

Yes, he actually envied her, Whee In seemed to not have any worries in the world, she greeted the day with a bright smile and positivity, whereas Hoseok had no expectations of his day. The only time he was honest with his feelings was when he was drunk that was why he always took cautious of whom he drunk with. Out of all his friends, Whee In was probably the closest he was with—Jimin too, but at the moment, Jimin was not the best person to approach and nor did Hoseok feel like getting inside his roommate’s negative bubble when he already had his own.

“Is it work or is it something else?” The blonde asked over her cocktail, warm brown eyes staring at him understandingly. She had that about her, speaking to you in the most fondness way, luring you in and making you want to spill out all your problems, just like Taehyung.

_She’d probably picked it up from him._

He cursed himself for thinking about the guy again; he hated the fact that he couldn’t get Taehyung out of his head ever since he’d gotten back. It’s not like it was an easy task, even if he wanted to the people around Hoseok wouldn’t let the trainee pretend that the heir was back. Everywhere the trainee was, someone was talking about Kim Taehyung, even on the media and news outlets. The whole country seemed to have nothing better to talk about other than the brat.

Whee In extended her hand over the table, placed her hand atop of his. “Hobbie, you can tell me,” she assured, tilting her head to the side and giving him an encouraging smile. This was Whee In, she probably already figured it out even before she’d asked.

“Coach’s got me coming up with a new choreo and I- ,” he breathed. Whee In frowned, “Do you want me to talk to mom? I could-“  
He shook his head. They both knew that that was not why he was really on edge.

“You’re going home this weekend,” she pointed out,  matter of fact. “Should I come with you? I don’t mind, you know,” she caressed the back of his palm softly to calm him down and he shut his eyes for a second. Took a few deep breaths and let her caresses calm him.

She was too nice, too good for this world. She was like a deer living with wolves and the alpha was her closest friend. The one she trusted the most; where her loyalty laid the most.

He shook his head again, opened his eyes and smiled at her. “What kind of a friend would I be if I made you spend a horror weekend with my family?”

“One that will be very indebted to me; I need a partner for my dance class,” she said, leaning back into her seat grinning. This was what he liked about her; she could lighten up any mood in a blink of an eye.

“And here I was thinking, you were offering because you love spending time with me,” he pretended to be insulted.

“Darling, nothing is for free, especially time.”

He gave her a blank stare and then soon they were both giggling.

Whee In was great company when you one, wanted to have fun, two wanted to forget reality and three needed distraction. She was always in a good mood and it was impossible to be in a bad mood around her, you even felt guilty being in a bad mood around her.

“But for real, though, what’s the matter? Did something shake you up?” She addressed the previous question on their way back home. Whee In had called for a driver from home to pick them up; they were first going to drop off the trainee and then her.

Hoseok had his head in her lap; her hand was in his smooth hair, fingers running across his scalp lightly. His eyes kept drifting in and out, trying to not fall asleep, but it was comfortable where he was laying.

“I thought I’d be ready back, but I was unprepared. I just didn’t expect him to come back,” he sighed, voice slurry. “And he looks so different, like…like…I don’t know, but he just LOOKS!” he continued murmuring and Whee In continued running her fingers across his scalp, letting him talk.

She knew who he was talking about. The trainee was not one to talk about how he felt, he didn’t like laying his feelings on the outside that was why whenever he did, and Whee In would let him. She’d just listen to him and hold him tight until he felt a little less sad.  
There weren’t many things that made the trainee sad; it was a total of three things that Whee In knew about; one being his family, two, his career and third, Kim Taehyung. But the issue with Tae and Hobbie was another story; - one that Hoseok himself would not acknowledge at all and Whee In would not pry unless her friend wanted to talk about it.

“Does that even-“pause then a loud exhale - “make sense?” he asked.

She nodded slowly. It did make sense.

To her, Taehyung was someone you could not describe in words. There were no enough words in her vocabulary to describe the boy she had admired ever since she was a child. But it wasn’t always like that. She used to feel small around Taehyung, not in height, but in status. Taehyung was what one would say blessed with visual; he was handsome and pretty enough to rival even girls; you could stare at his face for a long time without getting fed up, it belonged in the media. He had this perfect tanned skin, the one Whee In never seemed to be able to get no matter how much she sat in the sun or fake bronze she used. His legs were also long and just overall killer, everything about his looks was perfect, there was no fault, even his haters agreed on that.

He was also nice and outspoken, never judged anyone and gave people a chance. And although he was a second generation chaebol and could afford whatever he wanted, he never acted like one. Never rubbed it into anyone’s face that his family was of higher status than the rest, humble was also a word she could use for him.

Kim Taehyung was the guy you wanted to date but also wished to be.

Whee In remembers the first time she met Taehyung. She’d been new in town and her parents had moved from Japan and back to Seoul. Her parents had bought an entertainment company a few years back and her mother wanted to get involved directly, so Whee In and her mom had returned to Seoul while her father remained in Japan. Needless to say, she hadn’t been so fond of having to leave her old life behind and starting anew. At first, she had protested and wanted to stay with her dad in Japan.

That was of course until she learned that she’d be attending the same school as Kim Taehyung in Seoul. The Kim Taehyung, Whee In had been seeing on TV ever since she was a kid, Korea’s modern prince, and pride. The Kim family was very influential and every day there was something about them in the media and most families, just like Whee In’s, thrived for a closer relationship with the said family.

There was no time to waste; Taehyungie was waiting for her. But when she got to Korea and got to attend the school, - she has never been so excited to attend school in her whole life, - Taehyung had not been there and nor was the little boy, Jungkook- also another prince, but he was too young for Whee In. She’d dressed to impress on that day, not that she could do much with her uniform, but she had made sure her hair was glowing, shoes and white socks were sitting well and everything was perfect, only the person she’d wanted to impress had not seen there on that day.

She’d wanted to be one of Taehyung’s friends so bad it was actually pathetic looking back at it now. She’d wanted to be close to Taehyung as much as Jungkook, Jimin and Hyejin were. A week went by and she did not meet Taehyung or Jungkook. Instead, she’d met Jimin, but he wasn’t as friendly as he had looked in the pictures or on TV next to his parents.

Jimin was mean and had made it clear to Whee In that he did not like her; hence, he’d excluded Whee In and ignored her, making a few others also avoid talking to the new kid. No one cared who her parents were or what they did. At her new school at least one of the students’ parents was some famous or successful person so it was not a big deal that people knew her parents. They all still made it clear that she wasn’t welcomed as long as Jimin didn’t like her. Apparently, Jimin was the top dog at the school.  
To say that this had put her off and made her want to go back to Japan or to at least get home schooled would be a lie. A couple of days into the school she did make a few friends; she mostly got along with the boys, because the girls had disliked her from the get-go.

Taehyung and Jungkook also didn’t show up at school and the following few days as well. Later she found out that the two were out of the country with their parents, something they did often.  
However, three weeks passed and Taehyung still didn’t show up, neither did Jungkook and Jimin continued ignoring her presence. Whee In’s excitement faded day by day.

It was almost a month when Whee In heard in the news that Jungkook’s parents together with his older brother and Taehyung’s father have passed away in a plane accident. This was a day to be remembered in all of Whee In’s history. She’d heard the news during the car ride to school and all she could think about that moment was Taehyung and Jungkook. Of how much they were hurting; of how alone they must feel. She cried during the car ride to school for people she did not personally know.

The whole country seemed to have been mourning with the Kim and Jeon family. People crowded some of the Jeon and Kim buildings to give their condolence because the funeral had been small; only family and family friends were allowed to attend. The families made sure that nothing disturbed this last moment for their beloved ones. However, the media did not give up, paparazzi followed their relatives around to get their statement, the whole country watched to see what would happen next.  
Jungkook and Taehyung withdrew from school and were homeschooled, - understandably, - without Whee In ever meeting either of them.

It took almost a year; almost a year when the two started showing up in public again, going out and meeting with friends freely without the paparazzi following them around so much. Not that they could get anywhere near them with the amount of body guards their mother—Taehyung’s mother had adopted Jungkook—had in store. Nobody really understood that part but now the boy was living with them, - was keeping around them.

Finally, it happened, Taehyung spoke to Whee In for the first time and she swore she’ll never forget that day. It was the 18th of May at twelve past eleven o’clock. He hadn’t said much to her, except asked if he and Jungkook could sit next to her on the couch at Jimin’s birthday, - Jimin still swears he did not invite Lame In to his tenth birthday party.

Whee In knows that she’d stared at the male far too long for it to be normal and knows that Taehyung had tried to ignore her, but had eventually turned his head at her with raised eyebrows. “Yes?”

And the first thing that had come out of Whee In’s mouth was, “Gosh, you’re beautiful.”  
Taehyung had blinked, Jungkook had frowned at her and then he had started giggling. He had laughed until his eyes shimmered with.

“Oh my God, where have you been,” he’d turned to Jungkook. “Gukk, we need her in our life,” he’d said to the glaring younger male.

Over the years, the blonde has learned that Taehyung couldn’t help who he was. And although he was the prettiest guy Whee In has ever met, he was just like any other normal kid with normal family dramas. He was not immortal, he was just Taehyung.

“Would you believe me if I told you that I know exactly what you mean?” she said to the sleeping male in her lap, fingers smoothing his hair, her voice was soft, tender.

He hummed. “You’re his biggest blind fan, of course, you would.”

She gasped. “I’m so not blind!” she protested.

Hoseok chuckled; face nuzzling on her stomach as he settled more comfortable and she hit him to stop. “Don’t get too comfortable, I being generous here lending you my lap,” she said.

“If I was Taehyung, you would even give up your leg for me.”  
She frowned at that. “S’not true.”

“Or give up all your kidneys if I was Bogeum-Hyung,” he said as if she hadn’t told him to stop.

“But sucks for you, it’s just old Hobbie here,” he pinched her on the side and she winced, looking down at him with a flushed face, but still annoyed for pinching her and mentioning Taehyung’s cousin.

Whee In has had a crush on Park Bogeum ever since she first laid eyes on him at Jimin’s birthday party in fifth grade. Jimin –that witch—had dared Whee In to kiss Bogeum and why? Because he wanted to see how daring she was and peer pressure had led the girl into doing what Jimin had wanted, but instead of it backfiring like Jimin and Whee In had expected, it had worked out in her favor.  
The kiss had been quick and chaste and innocent, but instead of pushing and yelling at her like she thought Boguem would do, he had smiled and blushed and walked away. Later he had approached her and asked if she liked cupcakes and when she said yes, he handed her one and kept bringing her cupcakes at school.

Park Boguem was Whee In’s first; first crush first kiss and first time. It was rather infuriating because whenever she meets a guy she compares him to Bogeum. But Bogeum was taken. He hasn’t looked at Whee In for years, while she has been pining over him all this time. It was a sad tale, one that the blonde girl tried to ignore, but there’re moments when she looks back in time and wonders what she could have done differently to prevent certain events from taking place, what she could change about herself to make the other male look at her for once.

“Shut up and just go to sleep,” she shushed and he hummed comically.

 

  
**Part 2:**

 

“I heard Taehyung is back.” Jimin’s father says more than asks. It’s the first thing he says to his son the minute he enters their home library and the latter wants nothing else other than to shut his book and leave. He doesn’t know why he thought going home for the weekend was a good idea for an escape when he had his own apartment in the city.  
Right.

It’s because his apartment reminded him of Yoongi; everything inside of it did. The empty space between his and Hoseok’s house slippers reminds him of where he used to keep Yoongi’s slippers but they’re now stored in a box inside Jimin’s closet, which also smells like the rapper because half of his stuff are still at the latter’s apartment. The empty space on his desk that Yoongi used to use for his equipment whenever he was staying at his boyfriend’s apartment also reminded him of the rapper and the many times they would argue when one of them worked too long through the night and would keep the other up because of the lights.

Petty fights; they’d had way too many petty and stupid fights over the years that it had become a habit. Sometimes when they went on for a long time without a fight, Jimin would feel weird, as if something was not right. Only when they’d fight did he feel normal again. He was sure his ex-boyfriend felt the same way.

He still had to get used to calling Yoongi his ex, but he figured that he still had time. It has only been a week since their break up. Final break up, he was still allowed to feel sad about ending such a long relationship.

Jimin doesn’t look away from his book but he can feel his father’s small piercing eyes on him, making the hairs on his skin raise. His mother is also in the room, having come in after his father, but unlike him, she gives her son a chaste peck on the cheek and then makes way to the attached office space. The library is nothing other than a room surrounded by wooden bookshelves and cabinetry.

It’s decorated rather suffocating-ish if you asked Jimin by how all the books seem to be in order, no book being too small or too big to stand out. Everything was neat, even the cream colored gold leaf so far in the middle of the room. The windows were high up nearing the ceiling, letting sunlight in, but also making you feel like you were sitting inside a pipe glass. There weren’t any paintings or fake fruits—Jimin has never been a fan of paintings so he’s never taken interest in them, although his parents wanted him to, so he could converse about Art with potential partners.

Jimin hated this place; he’d rather burn it down.

“Yes, he came back last Friday,” he answers knowing well that keeping his father waiting for an answer won’t make the man go away.

“I haven’t seen him in a long time,” his mother says from the desk she’s sitting at, looking into the room.The male takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself and keep the tremor from his hand.

“He’s got a life,” he says, lifting his eyes from his book and looks straight at his mother.

Their eyes meet and she seems to get what he’s trying to say and for a second her eyes soften and she seems to understand but then his father’s voice interrupts them.

“Invite him to come over for dinner,” he orders and exits the library.Jimin purses his lips and sucks in a breath.

He can’t believe that they were doing this to him, again. They didn’t even have the decency to greet him or even ask about his day. No, they wanted to know about Taehyung. He doesn’t remember the last time his father has asked anything personally about him, he doesn’t even think that his father has ever asked him anything personal; like what his favorite color was or his favorite food.

All he asks is about school and Jimin’s so-called friends. He asks about the people around his son but never about his own son. His other son has been forgotten and is never mentioned at home. Both his parents pretend that Jimin’s older brother doesn’t exist- at least at home; in public, they put on an act and pretend that they’re so proud of him for finding his own path.

_Liars._

He tilts his head upwards, eyes closing when he feels his eyes begin to sting. There’s a giant lump in his throat forcing its way up and all he wants is to just shout, but he takes a few breaths and then opens his eyes. His mother has gone back to her business on the desk, he waits a few moments to see whether she’d look at him or say something but as expected she doesn’t. He shuts the book and stands to leave.

“Invite Taehyung over as your father says,” his mother speaks before he can move and he turns around to look at her, eyes narrowed, mouth tilted to the side disgusted.  
She meets his gaze, there's a warning glimmer in her eyes.

“Yes, I’m doing fine, mother. Yoongi and I broke up, but I’m okay, thank you for asking,” he gives her a fake smile, eyes cold.

Her eyebrows twitch, but she does not seem to be fazed or surprised at the way he speaks. She seems to be rather uninterested that her son has just gotten out of an almost ten-year relationship. She seems to not care that her son’s eyes are puffy and red from crying all these days or that her son’s arms are trembling by his side.  
Jimin hated his father, but he hated his mother even more. He hated the fact that both his parents treated him and his brother as nothing other than their own puppets as if Jimin and his brother were robots and had no brain or emotions of their own.

He hated that his brother had run away and left him with these horrible people.

He takes another deep breath and laughs. “What I’m I saying; you’re probably happy that I finally came to my senses and left him. Father never liked him, now you can finally send me to those blind dates you’ve been dying to send me to. There might be hope for the Park bloodline after all,” he spits at her and for a moment her eyes flash with guilt, but they harden right after.

“It’s the best for you,” she answers instead. “He was not good for you.”

Jimin wants to say that she and his father are not good for him, but he bites his tongue.

“He’s from a respected family. A political family, just like us,” he tells his mother. Just because he and Yoongi aren’t together it doesn’t mean that he was not going to defend him.

His mother scoffs. “The Mins are nothing like us. That household is nothing but a disgrace.”And ours isn’t? Jimin wants to ask. “What makes us so different from them? Our family is no better than them. We’re just as messed up,” he seethes.

“Just because nobody talks about it, it doesn’t mean that the damage isn’t there.

”His mother’s mouth twitches and he knows that he’s hit a nerve, but he feels pumped. He feels like hurting someone and sadly, it’s his mother who’s going to get the blow. He hates it, he really does, but he can’t stop his mouth from moving and words flowing out.

“At least they don’t pretend to be perfect when they’re not! At least they don’t disown their own child for doing something that they love. At least they don’t force their child to become someone he is not. At least they don’t pretend to still be married when they’ve actually been separated for over ten years.”

He sees his mother’s façade fall and his heart sinks to his stomach. He can clearly see a trace of pain on her face as her eyes shift from his face and wander around the room for leverage.

There were things that were not mentioned at home; one of them being that Jimin’s parents were not actually together anymore. His parents separated years ago but decided to still live together for the sake of both their families. Not for their kids, but for their reputation. No one knew that they were separated, save for their kids and a few loyal workers who have all of course signed a contract to stay blind and deaf of whatever happens in this family.

No one knew that Jimin’s father has been sleeping at the other side of the house while his mother in the main house, not even their relatives. To the public and everyone else, the two ministers’ family life was what one would call a good example for society, if only they knew the truth.

Jimin doesn’t think his parents would have told him either if he hadn’t found out by himself. He had been nine when he saw his father being too close with a woman who was not his mother. Ten when he saw his mother kiss someone that was not his father. Almost eleven when he saw a disarray woman come out of his father’s office early in the morning.  
And twelve when he saw the same woman,- who had left his father’s office in a disarrayed state a year ago,- enter his father’s office half naked. Jimin had stood behind the door and had listened. He wished he hadn’t.

He wished he had pretended not to have seen her or anything, but he had and he could have not unseen it. To make it worse, Taehyung had been there that night. He’d stood and listened with him to what had been going on in the office and then pulled him away and told him to forget, but Jimin had not been able to. It had haunted him.  
He had been disgusted and ashamed of his father. He had pitied his mother. That was until he’d seen the woman who his father seemed to be in an affair with attending the same event his family had been to and he had confronted the woman.

Taehyung had told him not to, that he’d get hurt, but he did not listen. It was as if Taehyung already knew what Jimin didn’t, as if his best friend had already known about his family secret before Jimin could. _He always seems to be there when all the bad things happen in Jimin's life._

Needless to say, the woman had not taken Jimin’s threats to stay away from his family serious and she had snitched on Jimin. That was how his parents ended up explaining to the twelve-year-old Jimin that they had been separated for a while now and were only keeping the façade for his sake. They were waiting for him to finish high school and then tell him; only his older brother already knew.

But since he found out and twelve was a decent age to be grown they didn’t have to keep up the act anymore. His parents’ relationship seemed to have worsened from there. They had not been affectionate with each other, but Jimin always thought it was because both his parents were very old fashioned, but it turns out that they’d only married for convenience.

His father had moved out of the main part of the house and moved to the second guest wing, where he pretty much resides now. His parents have become strangers living in one house. He barely sees them because of work and the time they’re home, they’re both in their own space, bluntly avoiding each other, but still appearing together in public. The only time they come together is when they had an important guest over or when they want to taunt Jimin or order him around like now. Most of the time, the house was just empty, cold and suffocating.

“You know very well that your father and I made that decision for everyone’s interest,” his mother says after she composes herself.

He nods remembering the time she’d given him the talk. Not that talk, because he’s never had it with either of his parents. It had been his older brother who had given Jimin the talk and both had been embarrassed and avoided each other for two weeks after that. Long story short; his parents had given each other permission to see other people as long as it was on the down low and would not ruin their image. Simple as that.

“For your interest,” Jimin corrects.

His mother sighs and sends him an annoyed look.

“We’re not any different than other families,” he grinds out when she doesn’t say anything.

She rolls her eyes but nods nevertheless.

He bits his tongue in order to keep his mouth shut, afraid he might try to say more mean things to her because right now, the mood is perfect for ranting.  
Instead, he pulls out his phone and unlocks it. Opens one of messaging apps and looks for his best friend’s last chat.

 **To Taehyung-ah:**  
Next Thursday, dinner at my house.

He sends and turns around to leave. His phone vibrates before he can put it back into his pants pocket and he sees that Taehyung’s answered right away.

 **From Taehyung-ah:**  
Can I bring Kookie?

Jimin looks behind him and sees his mother still watching him, he rolls his eyes—a habit he picked up from her—and replies.

 **To Taehyung-ah:**  
Don’t you always come in package?  
You’re being too good to my parents.

They both know that wherever Taehyung goes Jungkook also goes so inviting the older male is also inviting the younger and Jimin hates it.

**From Taehyung-ah:  
Do you want me to bring him?**

Jimin doesn’t have to think over the question because he’s starting to feel anger emerge once again.

 **To Taehyung-ah:**  
Your invitation is extended to him as well. 

**Not inviting you is also not inviting him.**

**From Taehyung-ah:**  
Do you even want me to come?  
I can make up an excuse if you want.

  
He smiles sadly at the message. Of course, Taehyung caught on.

  
**To Taehyung-ah:**  
My parents want you to come.

 **From Taehyung-ah:**  
And what do you want?

He looks at the question, reads the question and lets it run around his head until he feels dizzy.

**To Taehyung-ah:  
Next Thursday. Dinner. My House.**

  
He turns around to look at his mother and notices that she’d been watching him all this time. “Tae’s free next Thursday.” He doesn’t know why he chose Thursday, but he doesn’t care either.

His mother nods. “We’ll make time for him,” she says. Of course, they will. They’d do a lot just to get on the Kims good side.

“I won’t be able to make it. I have an appointment.” He doesn’t and his mother knows that. She squints her eyes at him and tilts her head. “You’re going to be there,” she says, voice demanding.

He shakes his head. “I’m sorry mother, but I can’t make it to dinner with your special guest. Unfortunately, I got dumped and need to mend myself back together,” he says coldly and turns around. He knows that he should not be disappointed that she didn’t ask about him, but a small part of him, the child in him still wishes that she would.

He wishes that she could give him the much-needed hug right now and tell him that everything was going to be alright; that this was not the end, but instead she decides to swipe his pain under a rug and steps on it. Admittedly, he and Yoongi have broken up way too many times that he had at some point stopped freaking out himself, but this time it felt real, but she  
as his mother should be worrying about his well-being and asking whether he has eaten and not if another’s child has eaten.  
Why was she trying to feed another person’s child before her own?!

“He’ll be bringing Jungkook with him; two special guests so you won’t even notice my absence,” he walks out of the library without looking back; the lump in his throat suffocating him and tears threatening to flow out.

 

**Part 3:**

 

“We’re invited to dinner at the Parks on Thursday,” Taehyung informs Jungkook as he types back to Jimin’s last message.

  
**To Chim:  
We’ll be there: D**

  
The younger male chuckles, “I was wondering when they’d invite us again,” he says taking a drag from his blunt and Taehyung pretends to frown at him.

“His parents like us,” Taehyung says, putting away his phone into the basket.

Jungkook gives him a deadpanned look and he lets the smoke escape through his nose. “They like our names, not us particularly,” he says when he’s done.

Taehyung’s face is set into a solemn expression, lips pressed together, brows furrowing as he watches the younger male take another drag from his blunt.

“I’m doing it for Jimin,” he murmurs after a heartbeat, but Jungkook catches it.

“I know,” Jungkook responds through smoke coming from his mouth as he attempts to make rings out of the smoke which the older male destroys with his index finger.

“But you can’t help everyone; I also don’t think Jimin likes it since he’s stopped attending these so called dinners.”

He takes another drag, this one longer than the last one, doesn’t let Taehyung ponder over his words when he’s done. He shuffles on his knees until he’s in front of the elder male. Taehyung realizes what he wants to do and responds. His hands reach out to hold onto the younger’s shirt and he shifts closer and tilts his head to meet the other male as his hands immediately form a tunnel around the elder’s mouth and Jungkook presses his mouth atop of his hands to give Taehyung a shot.

Their eyes remain open throughout the whole exchange and Taehyung loses himself into the intensity of Jungkook’s blown out eyes. He feels the younger speak to him on a deeper level, feel the inside of Jungkook touch him without the younger actually touching him and he shivers. He feels hot allover sudden and isn’t sure whether it’s the shot or just the younger male looking at him, but what he knows is that the other is mirroring his expression.

As soon as Jungkook’s hands leave his mouth, Taehyung pulls the younger in for a kiss. He feels thirsty and needy and just wants Jungkook’s lips onto his. He wants to devour the younger male, he wants to quench the thirst with drinking in the younger male, wants to take everything that Jungkook can give him, but he can’t.  
At least not yet and definitely not here; not wanting to end their make-out, Taehyung tries to direct their lewd kisses in a different direction. He tried to make them slow, short, Jungkook protest at first, he kisses him with just as much fervor as before, as much hunger, but soon he comprehends and complies.  
Taehyung gives him one last chaste kiss before he completely pulls away, but the younger male keeps his forehead rested against his, dark brown eyes staring into caramel eyes and he smiles at him, gives him a quick peck and then smiles.

“I wanna eat you up,” he says and Taehyung has to bite his lip not to let out a sound. If the younger male feels him buck then he doesn’t let on.  
Taehyung squeezes his thighs around the younger’s sides to indicate for him to move off of him and Jungkook chuckles. How they’d ended up on the blanket, they bought don’t know, but when it came to each other they tended to become ignorant about a lot of things.

“I’m moving,” he says and shifts off of him not before giving his Hyung a kiss on his forehead, leaving him a blushing mess on the blanket.

 

  
+

 

Taehyung looked at the big roman clock hanging on the atelier wall. It was a quarter to eight. Meaning in a few minutes she'd be walking in on them.

_But what if she didn't come?_

He had to roll his eyes at himself, of course, she'd come. The woman didn't have a clear mind by now, she was not thinking and that's why she needed a wake-up call.

But would she really come in when she sees them? - Of course, that was the plan; she was supposed to storm in and find the unexpected.

Jungkook noticed that the older male was distracted and tried to get his attention, "What are you thinking about?" he asked, thumb stroking the inside of the elder’s palm  
softly. After their small slip up, they’d fallen into a lazy conversation about nothing and everything. They’d laid down on the thick blanket, bodies close to each other, fingers laced and minds connected.

Taehyung pressed his lips together and sighed, "I needed this." He leaned back and propped his elbows for support and tilted his head to look at the younger male; who was lying on his back, one hand folded behind his head serving as a pillow. "The shot or the kiss?" he asked. Taehyung shoved him playfully.

"Do you remember my freshman year, the first time we were in here?" He asked the younger, body leaning into the others out of habit, when the younger reaches out a hand and runs his fingers on the elder's arm.

How could he not? The two had sneaked away from the welcome ceremony and after wandering around the school they’d ended up here. Of course, it wasn't their first time in the room since they'd already taken a tour of the whole school beforehand, but it had been their first time at the university with Taehyung as an official student there.

"Is this the very spot we sat?" The younger asked.

Taehyung nodded. "Hmm…except we didn't have a blanket or any food up here."

The only thing they had had were their coats, two bottles of champagne, a blunt and a camera.

"Do you think there was a mess the next day?"

There had been wet paintings hanging on the walls with the artist's names under them.

"Do you think a Mina could draw something like this?" Taehyung was standing at a landscape painting. It was showing a wet and neglected setting of a forest; the trees in the paintings were broken into bits or decayed and the plants were almost the same color as the ground; dark green or brown. There was also a small hut near the lake; half of it already inside the water.

Jungkook came and stood next to the elder, shook his head as he observed the painting.

"Absolutely not! Mina sounds too nice, she can't draw sad things. But Sojun...or is it Sojung.?" he took a closer look at the name tag.

Taehyung giggled. "I think we need to assign the paintings to their rightful owners.”

They ended up rearranging the name tags and paintings; placing them in different places. This would have been okay of course, except that all the paintings were similar with only a little exception of what the painter had added for individuality.

"I bet they were mad!" Taehyung let out a chuckle as he fell next to the younger, body facing the ceiling.

"Hmmm..." Jungkook hummed, hand coming up to run through the elder’s soft locks. It was natural; touching the older male had been a habit of his since he could remember and when he was not touching him, he was thinking about touching him.

Taehyung took one more glance at the clock before turning his body completely towards Jungkook. He let the younger’s gentle caresses ease him, followed the warmth that was surging from the younger’s soft fingers through his body and was lulling the tingling sensations throughout his body.

He knew that Jungkook could tell that something was off, - he could always tell when something was amiss with him, but he never prodded because Taehyung eventually told him everything.

"I remember the seniors getting in trouble for it," a smile was on his face as he watched the younger male stare blissfully at the ceiling.

"Do you think, we should have told the truth?" Jungkook asked.

This did catch Taehyung off guard. Since when did the younger male ever consider confessing the truth? Jungkook was no liar but also not one to come clean at something he did.

He figured that it was something he'd learned from her.

**Ten more minutes left.**

He sighed, making the younger shift his body to the side and look at him. They were now laying side by side, their faces only a breath away, blown dark chocolate eyes looking into caramel brown.

“It's about Jimin, isn't it?” Jungkook asked voice above a whisper.

News about Yoongi and Jimin’s break up had broken out as soon as the weekend ended and it had been the latest gossip these past few days.  
Taehyung had stayed beside Jimin whenever he could, just like he had done in the past, and tried to console his best friend. Given, Jimin wasn’t the easiest person to be around; his mood swings went from zero to hundred in a span of ten seconds. One minute he would be telling Taehyung how glad he was that the latter was back and the next he was cursing at him. Taehyung let him get away with it because he knew that his friend was hurting.

“If it makes you feel any better, Yoongi-Hyung isn’t doing any better,” he felt Jungkook’s thumb trace his eyebrow, “he hasn’t left his studio ever since the breakup; he looks like death paid him a visit.”

Taehyung chuckled and Jungkook smiled, but the older male sobered up real quick.

“It’s just that I think that this time they’ve broken up for good.”

“It was bound to happen; their relationship was toxic, to begin with,” Jungkook’s hand cupped the elder’s jaw; finger’s stroking the other’s face lightly.

Taehyung’s eyes shut for a millisecond, letting himself drown into the other’s touch; as much as Jungkook liked touching Taehyung, the older male liked the other touching him as well.  
When Jungkook was touching him, Taehyung would forget about everything and everyone. He’d forget about everything that made him nervous, all the things that weren’t going right; all his worries would be forgotten when he was with Jungkook.

“But they were cute together,” he sulked, eyes opening again, tongue darting out to wet his dry lips.

Jungkook followed the movement of his tongue, his eyes darkening even more. “We’re cute together,” he said, head inching closer.

He didn’t know why, but he just had this urge to kiss Taehyung; he wanted to kiss the older male until the frown on his face was no longer there.

When Taehyung had called him a few hours ago, asking him to meet up in the atelier, he had not questioned his Hyung. He had agreed and rushed here as soon as he could. Had he been busy? Yes, but for Taehyung, he would drop everything and he was certain that the elder male would do the same for him. Maybe that’s what frightened them the most; the fact that when it came to the two of them, they didn’t care about anything else; it’s was unhealthy and they both knew it, but Jungkook didn’t care.

“You’re sappy as shit,” Taehyung laughed, tongue slipping out to lick at his lips again, touching Jungkook’s lips as well.

The younger’s eyes were now trained on the elder’s mouth, gaze hooded and heavy, reminded of the previous kiss.

“You’re no better than me,” he pointed out, lips brushing across the elder’s; teeth nibbling carelessly on his lower lip.

Taehyung drew in a breath, giving the younger male the push he needed to kiss him.

These two may not have been emotionally on the same page but their bodies surely were; Jungkook’s body followed Taehyung’s as the older male rolled onto his back, hands tangling into the younger male’s brown hair. His hair was still wet from the quick shower he had taken before rushing there. Taehyung had to stop his mind from wandering further; from supplying him with images of the younger male in the shower.

A moan left his mouth when Jungkook bit hard on his lip and sucked, then pulled away but only to kiss him again, languidly down his jaw to his collar bone. The younger male was lying atop of him, barely keeping his weight from crushing the older male and although it kind of hurt having his back on the atelier ground with nothing but a wool blanket separating them, he liked having Jungkook’s full weight on top of him. Jungkook’s knee prodded between his legs and he let the younger slip between them automatically. Buttons flew open, shirts were taken off and both boys were too carried away in trying to touch and map each other’s skins—although they both knew each other like no one else—to notice the back doors of the atelier open and someone walking in.

The doors closed with a loud thud echoing through the spacious room and if Taehyung had not been keeping his senses alert, he may not have stopped Jungkook’s hands from wandering inside his pants. Fuck. He was hard and so was the younger, who was now giving him a confused look, hands still battling with the elder’s around his jeans.

“We have a guest,” Taehyung murmured to the younger and pulled away to tilt his head up at the guest. Instead of rolling off completely, Jungkook kept half of his upper body on the elder male and rested his head in the crook of his neck.

Taehyung finally turned his head in the direction of their guest; Kim Yongsun, aka their adjunct professor also Jungkook’s tutor when he was in his final year of high school. Taehyung may or may not have made some research on the young woman after seeing her in the Art class and having a vague memory of her.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Yongsun demanded, trying to make her voice sound authoritative but it came out shaky; her eyes were blinking too much as tears started to pull around them, her lips were quivering.

"It's not what it looks like," Taehyung said, pushing Jungkook softly off of him and trying to sit up. Yongsun’s mouth fell and the male followed her graze until he noticed that his shirt was unbuttoned, so he suppressed a chuckle and tried to button back his white shirt acting like an innocent student he definitely wasn’t. He’d gone through the whole scene in his head a couple of times, and he couldn't help but be impressed at how his plan had turned out.

Yongsun crossed her arms over her chest, cheeks red. "Oh, really?

The blonde stood and started looking around the room for his shoes. "Okay, so maybe it is as its looks like, but nothing happened," he found his shoes and began putting them on. Yongsun watched him do all this, unexplainable anger and shame rising in her.

She didn’t know at whom she was angry with; just that she was so stupid. How could she have believed that there was nothing going on between these two?

Her eyes wandered over at Jungkook who was still lying on the blanket, eyes closed and one hand on his forehead, not caring to acknowledge her presence.  
God, she was so very stupid. Her eyes wandered around the atelier; there was a basket full of small containers - she assumed that that was the food. One of the containers was lying on the floor opened and she could identify a half bitten brownie. Not too far away, two empty champagne bottles and another one that seemed to have been opened a while ago.

They'd been drinking on school grounds.

Her eyes narrowed as Taehyung went back to kneel on the blanket next to Jungkook and tried to pack up the things lying on the floor.

"You won't tell on us, right?" Taehyung asked innocently, a tight-lipped smile on his face.

Did he think that this was a joke?

"You were drinking on school grounds?" She’d not meant it as a question, but her voice came out that way and she hated it, so damn much that she wanted to yell.

Taehyung nodded clearing away the things into the basket, and then she noticed him pick up something from a glass and throw it in one of the containers. Yongsun would recognize that item anywhere, anytime. As a matter of fact when she thought about it, the stench was still in the room.

"And are apparently also using drugs," she snapped.

Good girl- now the real fun was beginning. "This was our first time," Taehyung said, voice still innocent and polite, but they both knew that he was lying.

"I'm afraid I'll have to inform the board about this incident," she said, eyes wandering back to Jungkook, who was still lying on the blanket like the world didn’t exist; like she didn’t exist.

What she didn’t know was that Taehyung was watching her. He suppressed a smile, she was far gone than he had thought.

"Have I told you how much I've missed you, Tae?" Jungkook murmured, hand reaching out to find his Hyung.

Taehyung took his hand, "No,” and leaned in, “but it doesn't matter, we’re in trouble," he whispered making sure Yongsun could also hear them.

Jungkook chuckled. "Not as much trouble as you’re gonna get for leaving me hanging, again. Last time I let you get away with it, but I swear this time, you’re gonna get it.”

Taehyung might have planned the whole scene on Yongsun walking in on them and then improving the rest, however, he had not counted on Jungkook talking—the younger male had no filter when he was high or drunk, which he was both at the moment and so the older male had also not counted on his cheeks heating up and adapting a pinkish shade.

"Professor Kim caught us," he glanced at Yongsun and them back at Jungkook. "You have to put your stuff back on and let’s go."

With the help of the older male, Jungkook came to a sitting position, not before chuckling. "But it was just getting fun!” The younger male whined in disapproval but nevertheless conceded to what his Hyung was asking of him. Taehyung helped him get to his feet, somehow managing to support the younger male on his shoulder and also carry the basket out with him. He gave the young teacher a curt nod and then exited out, heart racing out of his chest with anxiety, but a grin stuck on his face after seeing Yongsun’s hurt expression.

 

 

**+**

 

  
Jungkook was awoken with a loud bang. Someone was throwing something at him or above him or against something and it echoed in his ears. He tried to open his eyes, rubbing them slowly until they opened.

"Yoongi-Hyung, really?"

The noise didn't stop. "He’s not here, it’s just us two."

Since Yoongi and Jimin’s break-up, the rapper had been crashing at Jungkook’s apartment every now and then, much to Taehyung’s chagrin because he couldn’t always swing by and hang out with his best friend. It was not that Taehyung didn’t like Yoongi, but the rapper was Jimin’s ex and Jimin wasn’t speaking to Yoongi, which automatically meant that Taehyung wasn’t speaking to Yoongi either –bro code—and most importantly, Taehyung just wanted to have Jungkook all to himself without anyone else around, was that too much to ask for? Call him greedy, but he just wanted to spend time with Jungkook and catch up for all the time they’d lost, but somehow people kept getting in the way.  
People like Jimin and Yoongi; honestly, Taehyung thought that the two were selfish to break up now. They could have broken up before he’d returned or after a few months of his return, but they just had to break up NOW and play the third wheel and because Taehyung honored his friendship with Jimin, he had to be there for the latter through his dark period of time.

_As if that wasn’t enough, Kim Yongsun had to come along and also become a problem._

“Hyung, what are you doing?" Jungkook shifted onto the bed until he was leaning his back against the headboard.

_What the hell?_

Taehyung dribbled the ball in his hands on the wooden floor he was sitting on, "I'm playing basketball," he said, throwing the ball above the younger’s head onto the wall, it bounced back to him.

"While I'm sleeping?" The other exclaimed, voice raspy. His throat was dry, almost painfully, but he ignored it.

"I wanted to wait until you were awake but I got bored," he threw the ball again but Jungkook caught it this time, confiscating it all together. "Why are you here?"

"To blow you first thing in the morning,” Jungkook felt a waved rush through his body, “get your ass out of bed, we’ve got things to do." Taehyung pulled himself off the floor; he was wearing a different outfit from the one Jungkook remembered. In fact, they were not where he last remembered to have been.

“Tae?” he called carefully.

The elder male hummed in response, a smirk on his face.

"What happened last night?"

"Professor Kim caught us last night," he waved a hand in the air dismissively.

"Doing what?" he didn't remember, disappointing but it wasn't bad.

"We were smoking or you were smoking pot in the atelier, we also had a few drinks, “he rolled his eyes.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes trying to remember what he was talking about. Atelier...champagne...pot...blankets...paintings… and then...

"Did you just say that Yongsun caught us?" suddenly he was wide awake.

"It's professor Kim and yes, could you go get a shower? We have to talk to her. Her class ends in an hour." Taehyung did more than a little research, but whatever.

"Why do we have to talk to her?" he demanded accusingly.

"She's a teacher, we're students and she caught us breaking school rules, we have to try and convince her not to tell the board," he explained as if speaking to a small child and this might have pissed off the younger if his mind was not still caught up on last night. Somehow he had a feeling that what the elder male told him was not the full story.

“Did – did we do anything last night?” He asked, worrying his bottom lip, eyes looking hopefully at his Hyung.

The other understood exactly what he meant. _Did Yongsun see us?_

He wanted to play dumb and make him ask outright. He wanted the younger male to admit it to him.

 _Yes, we kissed. No, we made-out. Your hands were almost down my pants._ “Nothing that we can’t take care of,” he assured instead with a tight smile.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After editing this chap and having Jacks look over it, I've come to the conclusion that it may be one of my fave chaps in this fic. There's something really dark about this chapter that I like. From Hoseok's family drama and beef (can you even call it beef?) with Tae and Whee In's obsession with Tae and his cousin to Chimchim's family life (I told you guys he wasn't that evil) to Tae sending a message to Yongsun. I dunno, I really enjoyed writing it and hope that you enjoyed reading as well. Let me know what you think, give me a sign, speak to me xD


	6. Smile For The Cameras

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why are you still in that class; we took it in the beginning out of curiosity, but it has nada to with your major.”  
> His eyes roll upwards, while he bounces his shoulders a few times. “Dunno, it’s one of the few courses I can share with Kookie, I wanted to use the chance.”
> 
> “That’s disgustingly cute, aren't you spoiling him too much?” she teases, an amused look on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, I'm sorry for taking this long to update, but I had to concentrate on other things first. But I still want to thank everyone who took their time to read and comment on this fic. THANK YOU. Without any further delay, ENJOY!!^^

Last but not least,  a big thanx to my amazing beta: Livelydinosaurrawr who's been patient enough to read through and edit all of my fics and listen to my rumbling(^_^)

* * *

Kim Yongsun sat in the atelier trying to distract herself from what she'd witnessed the night before by going through her schedule and making sure that everything was correct, but found this to be impossible. Somehow, she couldn't get rid of the small voice in her head that kept calling her a moron.

How could she have been so stupid? Out of all the people, she could have cheated on Ric with, she chose a student, a freaking student! She felt bad, guilty, filthy and shameful.

She could lose Ric and her job for this. How could she have been this irresponsible? The worst part was that she was actually willing to put her career at stake for the boy, who didn't seem to have been serious with her.

She pushed her journal aside irritated at reading the same notes over and over. The image of Jungkook and that peach haired guy on the floor kept playing in her head.

That guy really was something— Yongsun knew that the male had given her a warning last night. She may have been from the countryside, but she was not dense. Last night had meant to happen; it had not been a coincidence.

The student had figured out that there was something going on between the sub teacher and his friend. She now understood why the peach haired male had been looking at her attentively during class, not because he had been interested in what she was teaching, but because he had been studying her.

She let out a deep sigh. The atelier was her favourite place at the Uni but now she hated it. The room reminded her of her selfish actions and bad decisions, it was laughing at her.

The sound of one of the back doors opened and closed back silently, and soon after confident footsteps followed. Even before looking up, she could already tell who it was.

"Take a seat," she said curtly, gesturing to one of the seats before the student could get any nearer. She needed to put some distance between them.

Jungkook pulled a chair from one of the desks and took a seat, a knowing smirk on his face.

Yongsun cleared her throat, walking around her large table and leaning on the edge.

"I assume you're here to know whether I informed the school?" she asked.

Jungkook seemed to think about it and then nodded.

“Where’s your friend?” she asked, the word sounding foul in her mouth. She wanted to ask what their relationship really was, but she had too little pride left to ask.

“Running errands,” Jungkook responded casually. He seemed different; there was something unusual about him that bothered her.

The sub pulled up a pen from one of the cups on her table and seemed to be fascinated by it. "Well, I didn't," she looked up.

"For whatever reasons; I won't.”

Jungkook snickered cynically as if he had expected this. He proceeded to stand up stating that the conversation was done for him.

_He still looks good. She thought to herself._

"But however; I won't let you get away with it," she said quickly, wanting to prolong the moment she had with him. It was weird, it felt like he was slipping away and she was trying to hold onto him—weird because she should not be feeling like this.

"As you already know, there’s a big showcase coming up for the seniors and we could use a few hands. You and your friend are going to help out as penalty until the showcase is over,” she said sharply. She was proud of herself for not stuttering.

The student poked his tongue inside his cheek contemplatively and nodded once.

"You may go, I have to get back to work," she pointed at the stack of papers lying on the table, trying to convince herself that he didn’t look adorable with the little action.

Instead of turning around and walking off in the direction he’d come from, Jungkook approached the teacher.

“We need to talk,” he said. He did not ask, she noted.

"Jeon-sshi, I'm not a therapist, but if you need one I can recommend you to one," she responded slightly, walking back behind her large table with shaky knees for safety. She’d not expected him to approach her so close.

"Yongsun, you don't have to do this," Jungkook told the young teacher. He sounded concerned, gentle, but also nonchalant. Was that possible?

She flinched away from him when he tried to grab her hand and held a finger up. "It's Seonsaeng-nimm, even for you and doesn't tell me what I can and cannot do," she snapped.

She saw how confused the younger male looked and she felt bad. Maybe she was a bit too harsh, but then she remembered the scene that kept her awake the whole night and shook her head.

"Are you mad about last night?"

Jungkook had told her he'd try and stop with the drugs but he couldn't help it. Last night was just one of those nights where he’d given into temptation, which had come in the form of his Hyung.

"Am I mad?" she prompted, voice suddenly high pitched and trembling. "No…to be honest I'm not mad," she answered and closed her eyes while taking deep breathes. She was trying to keep calm, something she was not good at. She was an emotional person, couldn’t keep her feelings off her face.

"But ashamed, humiliated and offended! I feel like a fool!” she blurted out.

What was she talking about? What had she done wrong? Jungkook tried to remember what had happened the previous night, but only saw vague visions. Taehyung had reminded him of their first night at the Uni, drunk a little, smoked some and then he had kissed the elder male and whatever happened after that was a blur.

It suddenly dawned on him. He did not remember Yongsun catching them. Taehyung was the one who had filled him in on the missing gaps, but selectively. His Hyung had left out some important information and the younger was sure it was intentional. Now, he understood why the elder male had woken him up to speak to Yongsun; it was a test—last night and this morning had been a test.

His fists clenched by his sides as anger surged through his body.

Angry at whom he didn’t know, but he just knew he was pissed. It hadn’t even been two weeks and Taehyung was already starting shit.

"What did you catch us doing last night?" he demanded his voice low; images of what they could have been doing playing in his head.

Yongsun pressed her lips together, eyes narrowed. She wondered if she should tell him or not. Maybe they weren't really together but they had just met up to—no, any word after that only explained one thing.

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend?" she hissed at him, eyes wet and dancing around the room.

She looked so hurt that the younger male wanted to console her. It was weird because he’d not felt like this for a while. He had never actually felt bad for all the girls he’s been with, never wanted to comfort them or protect them from his Hyung.

But the thing was that Jungkook was selfish. If he had been half a decent person as everyone else thought, then he’d have walked away from her, stopped this whole thing, but he’s not, he’s never been.

"Tae's not my boyfriend and whatever you saw last night did not mean anything."

She realises he did not deny the fact that he had made out with a guy. Did he like guys as well or was the peach male an exception?

"Then what is he? A fling, side piece, some experiment or just someone you hook up with every now and then?" she was not actually shocked. The peached haired male did give out the impression of being all that; he didn’t seem like the serious type.

Not too long time ago he had been dating some celebrity or at least that's what Yongsun had heard from the students.

And Jungkook? Well, let’s just say that his reputation presided him.

"He's just a close friend."

One that you happened to have been about to—

"Maybe your definition of friends is different from mine but friends don't sneak into classrooms to ..." she stopped herself before she could say it. _Why did it hurt?_

She shouldn’t be upset over this, she should be glad that Jungkook has someone by his side and she doesn’t have to worry about him.

"You know what? It doesn't matter anyways. This whole thing between us was a mistake. I’ve only dated one guy in my life whom I was planning to spend the rest of my life with and when you came along, I just lost my mind for a second because you’re so different and I wished I had dated more when I was younger and I just— “

The younger male pressed his lips against hers before she could finish. He wasn’t a big fan of excuses.

"You talk too much, you know that?" he said when he pulled away, thumb stroking her lower lip.

"You can't do that again," she whispered disoriented. Her heart was beating out of her chest, legs shaky and if it had not been for his arm around her waist, she’d have collapsed onto the floor.

"Why not?" he mused playfully, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Because; I'm a teacher and you're a student...we could both get into trouble," she murmured trying to look away from his intense staring.

"Do you have anything better than that?" he tilted his head, the all too familiar smirk returning.

"You're in a denial relationship with your friend," she purred, embarrassingly aware of his fingers caressing up her arm.

He shook his head pulling her closer. "Still not enough, Yongsun," he said disappointedly, his breath tickling her ear.

Why in the world did she ever want him to stop calling her by her first name? Her name sounded like honey on his tongue; sweet and rich. Ric’s faced flashed across her eyes and she tensed.

"I'm engaged.”

He stopped placing feather light kisses up her neck and pulled away to look at her, eyebrows raised. “Are you now?”

Her eyes darted back and forth surprised by the question. It was not a secret that Yongsun was getting married—she was wearing her engagement ring, it was not big or pricey, but anyone with eyes could see it. Jungkook had either decided to ignore that fact or had just not taken it seriously, not that she could blame him. She hadn’t rejected his advances so for.

“Yes,” she answered confidently.

Something flashed across his face for a split second, before it was replaced with an amused smile.

"Hmm...then I guess your fiancé should hurry up and voice those vows before he loses you."

He stepped away from her completely, bringing his hands away from her body, turned around and headed out.

Yongsun stood in the spot staring out the window for a couple of more minutes, trying to process what was going on. Later that night, she realised that Jungkook never denied being in a denial relationship with his friend.

 

+

 

“I heard that you were throwing daggers at your new sub during Art class," Hyejin says casually, looking above her hot cocoa cup at her future step-brother.

Taehyung tightens his lips and rolls his eyes.

She chuckles at that. "I'm not surprised, I mean she's making you help out with the showcase instead of reporting you to the school like she should have done," she rakes her hand through her newly dyed short dark blue hair.

“You literally just got back, how in the world do you know all this when you don’t even go there?” He asks, a frown forming on his face.

“I have my ways and just because I don’t attend the Uni personally, it doesn’t mean I’m not a student there,” she replies with a shrug.

He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I was not throwing daggers at her, but mainly observing.”

"My source says, you looked like she had spit on your Gucci slippers, which doesn’t make sense since getting caught was your plan, so you shouldn't hold a grudge against her. At least not for that."

He shrugs and reaches out for his can of cola; takes a sip and puts it back down onto the glass table. She waits for him to respond, but he doesn’t.

“Why are you still in that class; we took it in the beginning out of curiosity, but it has nada to with your major.”

His eyes roll upwards, while he bounces his shoulders a few times. “Dunno, it’s one of the few courses I can share with Kookie, I wanted to use the chance.”

“That’s disgustingly cute, aren't you spoiling him too much?” she teases, an amused look on her face.

“Why are you here?” he groans behind his hands, he doesn’t mean it that way, but there’s irritation in his voice. It’s not personal, but he’d prefer to be alone; to deal with his inner turmoil by himself.

“I wanted to be with my family and went home, but Dad’s away with the others and since we’re practically family, I came here,” she says matter of fact.

“Our parents are not married,” he deadpans, a slight sign of humour on his face. He’s not sure whether he’s really amused or just faking it, but he goes with it—as long as it calms him down.

“Not legally, but considering how long they’ve been dancing around each other, it’s a sealed deal,” she says with conviction, taking another sip from her cocoa.

Taehyung shakes his head, a grin on his face. His mother and Hyejin’s father go way back to high school days. They used to be close friends; both married different people and lost their closeness. It was when both of them had lost their significant other that they somehow reached out to each other.

Taehyung doesn’t know why, but he guesses because they knew that the other would understand their grief. They didn’t need pity but understanding. He and Hyejin had known each other even before that and had been close, but they got even closer. The slightly older girl and her siblings had managed to earn a stable place in his heart and he thinks even if their parents did not get married, she and her siblings will always be part of his family.

“What would your fans say when they find out where you are?” he asks her cheekily.

Hyejin was a solo artist. She’d decided at a young age that singing and rapping was what she wanted to do and she had been lucky to have supportive people around her, who had helped her to achieve her dream.

Initially, she was to debut as part of a girl group, but the agency realized a girl group wasn’t for her; her personality wasn’t meant to be confined to a group and the members may or may not have been afraid of her—she was nice to them, that is until they started being rude and trying to pull the Maknae card on her.

When the director had pulled her out of the group a few months prior to their debut announcement, she’d not expected for him to discuss her solo debut. The others hadn’t been ready or on her level and even if they had, the group dysfunction would have hindered their success and they’d had all known that.

Debuting as a solo artist eight years ago had been one of the best decisions in her life— if her current success wasn’t an indication.

It may seem unfair to some that she didn’t have many training years nor did she go through the typical struggle trainees go through because of her background and connections, but she has earned her spot in the entertainment world. She’d trained ever since she was a small child—given she had had private music lessons and visited one of the best dance academies in the country, but she’d worked her ass off just as much, starved herself just as much and had gotten cursed at just as much or even worse.

It was funny how nobody really knew her, but they’d all been wishing her downfall even before her debut. Funny, how the media liked to suck up to her  father but would slander her without a second thought. But she’s glad—she wouldn’t have come this far without all of her haters; without the will to prove them wrong and smirk in their faces.

She scoffs. “We’re practically siblings. I don’t see any problem hanging out with my little brother. Anyone who has a problem with that should go stick a broom up their ass.”

“Mind tweeting that?” he taunts playfully.

Hyejin may or may not have a frank-unfiltered reputation. At first, her image had been honest, but kind; however, she’d gotten involved in a few scandals about her unfiltered behavior and strong personality over the years—her dating rumors hadn’t made her image any gentler, but gained her the title of the top five femme fatale of Korea with a sharp tongue. It didn’t make her very lovable to some, but she also gained new fans overseas, making her one of the few female artists in Korea with an overseas fanbase. Maybe it’s why her agency lets her get away with so much.

She lets out an exaggerated sigh. “I’m on social media lockdown just because I crashed one of my ex- members' birthday party in Osaka. How was I supposed to know that her raggedy-ass was in the same club? I mean, is it my fault that her party was lame as shit and her guests took the first chance they got to escape? Plus, we were on a company trip, half of the label’s artists were there to perform together, who told her ignorant-ass she could celebrate her birthday?”

“It was her birthday,” Taehyung says with a fake pout, but his eyes are shining and he’s barely holding himself from laughing because it was typical of her.

Ahn Hyejin was the definition of petty. If someone does her wrong then she makes it her mission to give them a hard time whenever she can and her ex-group members did do her dirty during their trainee years, albeit she didn’t take it without a fight, but she was not the type to let bygones be bygones.

“And I was the gift. Bitch should be glad I showed up and her birthday was in the media, how else would anyone have known it was her birthday or who she is?” she says and smiles innocently.

It’s a bit farfetched since her ex-members did debut three years after her, all four of them, but they haven’t been very successful; two of the girls get other projects outside of the group and the other two have yet to find their calling.

Taehyung wrinkles his nose, a grin on his face “Speaking of gift did I tell you about Bo— “

“Stop changing the damn subject,” she interrupts with a flat tone. “Why were you planning the sub’s funeral when everything went according to your plan?”

Taehyung sighs dejectedly. He guesses she’d have caught on soon enough, he’d attempted to distract her one last time by mentioning his cousin. But unlike Wheein, Hyejin did not get distracted at the mention of her on and off boyfriend, though it had been worth a try.

"She just irks me," his shoulder shrugs on one side as he pulls down the sleeves of his sweater until only the tips of his fingers are visible.

“Irks you?” Hyejin prompts sarcastically.

"I mean isn't it just disrespectful and shameless of her to go after someone as young as Kookie?" he exclaims.

Hyejin knows he’s not done, so she lets him go on.

"On top of that, she's engaged! It doesn't make sense that she's throwing herself at him."

Hyejin holds up her index finger to interrupt. "What makes you think she's throwing herself at him? Considering his reputation, he's the pursuer here."

Taehyung knows this as well; Jungkook's reputation does not defend his case but worsens it. But even the younger male had standards. He never went after girls that were taken nor above the age of twenty-three. Had Yongsun been a bombshell from a wealthy family or famous, he would have understood...somehow. But the chick was a freaking teacher in training from the countryside. How the hell did he move from supermodels and heiresses to a mere teacher in training?

It was offensive.

"Jungkook's only entertaining her until he gets what he wants."

"Then why are you getting worked up? It's the same routine; he finds his prey, catches them and then lets them go. So, this time it’s taking him longer than usual, but she's more mature than the airheads he usually pursues and lets you get rid of afterwards."

“He didn’t let me go with him. Said, I should let him talk to her alone because he was familiar with her or some shit,” he takes a sip from his can of cola.

The elder male would have loved to see the look on Yongsun’s face that following day, but instead, he had been left with catching a glimpse of the said teacher around the school. He did not attend her class that week because he didn’t feel like sitting in the same room as her after Jungkook told him she wasn’t going to snitch.

It had not mattered to him really. If she’d snitched, they wouldn’t have gotten into any trouble, but he’d have had a legit reason not like her. But her not snitching and knowing the reason why made things a little more interesting.

"I feel like she won't be easy to get rid of," he says looking into the distance; it’s a habit he hasn’t learnt to let go since he was young.

Hyejin looks at him keenly and tries to get his attention back to the present. "He hasn't asked you to. Maybe you won't have to."

"He's never asked me so far," the peach haired male runs a hand through his hair, eyes closing for a nanosecond. He looks calm, but Hyejin bets his insides are on overdrive.

"But you knew about them. This time, you're supposed to be ignorant of it. Just wait and see how things turn out."

Funny coming from her when she’d have done the exact same thing had she been in his shoes – no, she’s been there before and she was not as nice as her friend because playing nice is not her style.

"What if she's using him?" They both know that this is a possibility, but this is the last thing the latter is worried about.

Hyejin shakes her head and tries to reason with him. She knows what he’s planning and she knows how it’ll end. They’ve been down this repetitive road before, but it’s not as familiar as usual. Something feels off. She can’t pinpoint it, but she knows Taehyung knows as well, this is why he’s so on edge.

"They're using each other. Besides, it's has nothing to do with you; you have other things to worry about," she reminds him.

Taehyung groans. "Don't remind me."

"You don’t have to have dinner with them," Hyejin tells him. “I doubt even Jimin wants you to go.”

Taehyung lets his head fall backwards on his sofa and scoffs. "Whether I go or not, it’s gonna be an issue. I just wish I could do more than this for him,” he says.

Hyejin takes a few sips from her hot cocoa and lets his words float around the room. Taehyung, Jimin and her have always been a trio since they were kids—Hyejin and Taehyung naturally being closer due to their parents and similarities—so naturally, she knew the real Jimin. The Jimin that nobody else knew, the one he kept locked away from everyone else because they’d not accept him because Jimin himself did not accept him.

So, she understands Jimin’s behaviour at times. It didn’t mean she necessarily agrees with what he does, but she understands and can probably relate more than Taehyung can.

Not saying that their youngest friend did not know them, but Taehyung had always been different. Behaved and thought differently. Where it was black and white for Jimin and Hyejin, Taehyung saw a rainbow. Where there was a one-way road, the latter managed to find another sideway.

He lived in his own twisted world just like the rest of them.

“Jimin stopped attending those dinners for a reason,” she tells him.

He sighs. “I know it’s not easy for him, but this was going to be the last dinner anyways. I just don’t want him eating alone with them and if I can help it, he should at least have someone he feels comfortable within the room.”

“But he wants to strangle you most of the time,” she deadpans.

Taehyung’s face morphs into a fake pout. “Our relationship is complicated!”

Hyejin laughs and the latter pokes his tongue out at her.

“I don’t remember when your relationship has not been complicated,” she sighs amused.

A wide smile appears on his face as he grins at his future step-sister. “Neither do I, to be honest,” he stares at the can of coke on the glass table, but this time fondly, as if recalling a good memory.

 

+

 

Jimin is seething. His blood is boiling and wants to scream at someone and break something, but he bites his tongue and smiles when Taehyung’s mother addresses him.

They’re not even half way through dinner but can feel the food coming back up. He has to force himself to chew and swallow the food inside his mouth, although all he wants is to push his plate away.

He’s not hungry—hasn’t been for a while, but he knows that he has to get through this.

All he has to do is withstand one night of his parents licking and kissing the Kim family and completely demeaning their son, nothing new.

His parents haven’t spoken to him ever since they’d arrived aside from the small jabs his father sent his way whenever Taehyung’s listed down his supposed activities while he was away.

His pathetic excuse of a father went as far as threatening to cancel his lease at his apartment if he didn’t show up tonight. Apparently, Taehyung’s mother had heard about the dinner and had decided to join them. She’d taken it upon herself to make reservations at some fancy hotel and rescheduled the dinner a week later than planned, which was like a present to his parents because now the coincidently awaiting paparazzi can take pictures and write about this fun and enjoyable night.

His parents had forced him to stand outside with them and smile at the cameras as if his life depended on it. He’d felt like screaming and telling the paparazzi that it was all a lie. He did not want to be here; his parents were not married and they were not one happy family.

His father was threatening to cancel his lease, had forced him to study law and had kicked his brother out while his mother had let him. But he doesn’t.

None of them will feel bad for him or help him. They all just want something to talk and write about. Something to sell and laugh at.

He takes a small sip from his water to go down with the shrimp.

“I hope the food is to your liking, Jimin-Ah. I heard you became vegetarian so I made sure you wouldn’t be left out,” Taehyung’s mother says, gesturing at the food on the table.

She’s smiling at him, big eyes warm and gentle and he just wants to tell her to not speak to him, because he doesn’t want to like her. He doesn’t want her soft smiles and gentle look doesn’t want her trying to include him in the conversation, asking for his opinion or complimenting him.

Because it makes him feel cold. It reminds him of what he doesn’t have. Kim Ahreum had walked into the room of the restaurant with both Jungkook and Taehyung at her sides, striding like they owned the place, emitting some kind of warm glow from them.

He’d felt that warm glow for a short moment when she had smiled at him and pecked his cheeks, but had left him feeling even colder than before when she’d pulled away and gone over to her seat. While one-half of the table was radiating warmth and security, the other part was freezing and chilly.

He nods and tries to reciprocate her smile. “You didn’t have to; I can barely finish all this.”

She laughs lightly at that. “You don’t have to; just eat whatever you can. We’ll just donate the food afterwards,” she picks up more shrimp and places it on his plate.

Ahh….to some of the many aid programs they have. It’s amazing how the Kims could manage to remind one of their many accomplishments without trying too hard. They were humble and subtle and it annoyed the black-haired male.

Jimin can feel his father’s glare on him as if the man had read his mind.

“You boys need to eat more at this age,” she says. “I wasn’t ready when Taehyung-ah left and Jungkookie moving out made me realise how much these little things matter. They weren’t at home and I couldn’t sit and eat with them whenever ” she goes on.

“I’m back now,” Taehyung says.

She purses her lips and narrows her eyes at him. “Yes, but you didn’t call me even once!” she chastises, but there’s fondness in her voice.

“Can you believe he didn’t call or write to his own mother this whole time?” she asks no one in particular.

Taehyung giggles. “I’m sorry,” the peach haired male says.

She scoffs, “You’re not. The both of you. Jungkookie went to visit him and he didn’t tell me. Left me out like I was some stranger!” she pinches Jungkook’s cheek fondly.

He wrinkles his nose but grins nevertheless. Taehyung is laughing and when she throws him a look, he stops.

“Saranghaeyo!” he exclaims, his rare boxy grin on display—which only a few selective get to witness.

She rolls her eyes and turns to Jungkook on her right. “Me too, Saranghao!” he says, a childish grin on his face.

She laughs shaking her head in disbelieve. “I can’t win with these two,” she says to the onlookers, gaze fond.

Taehyung tries engulfing her into a hug, but she pushes him away. “The two of you are sleeping home tonight,” she tells them.

They both agree simultaneously, sharing a look that doesn’t go unnoticed by Jimin.

It’s moments like these that he hates. He hates how carefree and casual Ahreum and the other two can be around each other; how they’re not shy to hide their affection for each other in public. She did not raise them uptight or strict. You can see the two boys have been raised with so much love that it was sometimes disgusting to witness.

Jimin couldn’t help comparing to how his family was.

He doesn’t remember the last time he’s joked around with his parents, the last time he’s laughed with them in a room or the last time he’d told any of them that he loved them. Did he even love them?

He assumes he did when he was little, innocent and ignorant. But what about now?

“Maybe I should just adopt Jimin, at least he checks in on his parents,” Ahreum jokes and sends the said male a wink. She means it well, but Jimin feels his insides coil and the swallowed food coming back up.

“I’ve been hearing all the things you’ve helped to achieve since you entered The Student Government Association. I’m glad someone with an actual plan is in the seats.” She smiles at him and then addresses the table again.

“Lord knows, there are so many kids with zero ideas in that organisation. Sometimes I feel like they’re just filling in their seats and don’t even care. I remember back then…”

Jimin knows she means well, but he can’t help feeling like she’s praising him out of obligatory because she can’t accept her kids being the only ones receiving compliments the whole night. He feels like she’s looking down at him and his parents which wouldn’t be twisted because Jimin’s parents are using her and her family’s name and he’s sure she knows.

She’s not stupid, she knows that his parents have been exploiting her sons all of these years. This dinner feels like a ‘thank you’ dinner. As if she’s thanking his parents for inviting her kids to the meaningless dinners and asking them to stop here.

He wonders how his parents can sit here and act like everything is fine when it’s not. How they can still smile and keep on sucking up to her when she’d blatantly told them to stop.

 _“You’ve been feeding my boys all these years and I just wanted to give back even if it’s in the form of a small meal,” she’d said when Jimin’s mother had thanked her for the invite_ _._

Jimin must have zoned out because suddenly he feels the room go quiet and he blinks confused, because what is going on?

“I asked how you’re doing, honey. I know it’s not my place to ask, but you did come out of a very long relationship. Back in our day that would have made you practically married,” she tries to joke, but the candle has already been lit.

 _Back in your_ _day_ _, same-sex marriage wouldn’t have been possible._ He wants to say.

He feels something drop inside his chest and he blinks away the hot liquid around his lids because he’s fine. He hasn’t thought about the break up for four hours and twenty-two minutes—there’s an analogue clock in the corner of the room— and he’s fine because has to be, because…

“Jimin’s fine. He’s had enough time to get over it,” his father says coolly as if he was talking about the weather.

 _FUCK YOU!_ Jimin wants to scream at him, because how does he know how he feels? He hasn’t asked even once about him, he only cared how Taehyung and Jungkook were doing.

Ahreum’s eyes shift to his father and back to Jimin. Her eyes are warm and gentle, patiently encouraging him to speak. He feels his mother’s hand on his thigh and he wants to jerk his leg away or cut it off altogether.

He knows she’s not doing it to console him, but to remind him to watch what he says.

“We’ve broken up a few times so I’ve gained experience,” he forces his voice to sound light, a smile to appear on his.

Jungkook is eating his peas pretending not to listen and Taehyung is sending him an encouraging smile, one resembling his mother’s.

“It still doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt as much the first time did,” she says, but more to herself.

Jimin sees his father roll his eyes. Of course, he’d find the conversation irrelevant since it was not about him or how he could elevate his political career.

The conversation shifts into a completely different direction and he zones out again, he zones out when they’re told to move into another room where they’ll be served desserts and cocktails. The room they move into is bigger than the exclusive dining room with a round table contrary to the rectangle one before and higher chairs that seemed to push them closer than they already were.

The room is surrounded by tall wide glass windows that offer a view of the city and Jimin wonders whether it’d hurt if he flung himself against one of the windows and fell down when his father begins to speak. Taehyung’s mother has asked about Jimin’s elder brother and his parents pretend like they’re in contact with him.

They speak of him as if he wasn’t the disappointment they’ve abandoned years ago. As if the mention of his name wasn’t going to lead to an argument in the car back home.

His mother then asks Taehyung if he’s seeing anyone, to which he, of course, shakes his head. Jimin’s father tells him it’s about time to find someone nice, some who can be supportive of him in the future.

Jimin’s mother tells him that sometimes that person is closer than one thinks. She then proceeds to tell them how she and Jimin’s father got together.

His parents think they’re being slick, but he can see right through them. Ahreum as well, although she’s pretending to enjoy the story. Jungkook’s face is pensive; he doesn’t even try to pretend to look ignorant. He doesn’t like the turn of the conversation and Jimin can see that.

Well, that makes two of them.

“I’m single and just want to enjoy the moment,” Taehyung tells them after the fake love story has been told.

Jimin what the latter is thinking because he knows the real story; knows his family situation more than Jimin himself might even know. Maybe this is what makes this whole situation even more ridiculous.

“Well, Jimin is single as well.”

His father has selective hearing it seems.

Taehyung looks at Jimin’s father for a split second before grinning. His mother laughs lightly and his parents laugh as well. The only people not laughing are Jimin and Jungkook.

His parents found out about his preference when he was fifteen. His father had been livid, threats and insults had been thrown around. He’d blamed everything on his mother, saying how she should have controlled him more. How they shouldn’t have given him so much freedom. He’d told him they’d not accept him, but as soon as he found out that Taehyung was not straight either, a switch flipped.

He saw Jimin in a different light. They tried to match the two together. Although aware that their son had been dating Min Yoongi behind their back, they’d told Jimin what he could do to make up for ruining their family.

Apparently, he was the one who was ruining the non-existent family and not his parents.

He excuses himself to go to the bathroom and doesn’t wait for a response. He just needs to get away from them and clear his mind or else he might accidentally stab his father with the butter knife that had no purpose on the table.

The bathroom door opens as soon as he rinses his mouth at the sink. There’s a foul aftertaste in his mouth and it’s not due to the bile that had risen up his throat along with the meal he’s consumed the whole night and emptied down the toilet seconds ago, but due to the thought of having to drive back home with his so-called parents.

“What do you want?” he asks, eyes narrowing at the intruder through the mirror.

“I came to see if you’re fine,” the other male answers simply, closing the door behind him and approaches him.

Jimin turns around the other stopping in his stride. “So now you want to act like you fucking care,” it’s not a question.

The peach haired male frowns at him. “Jimin…”

Something seems to snap inside the shorter male. He assumes it would have happened eventually in the course of the night.

“Don’t fucking pretend to care about me! Not when you accepted to have dinner with them although you damn well knew I didn’t want you to,” he points at the door, voice seething.

“Not when you even brought your mother and the three of you sat there mocking us, pretending to care when we all know deep down you only care about yourselves,” he tells him.

The other male opens his mouth and then closes it, nibbling on his bottom lip.

“Chim, I’m sorry.”

Jimin scoffs. “For what? What could you possibly be sorry for, Mr Ambassador?” he demands and fixes a patronising look at his friend.

Apparently, Taehyung had become the ambassador of whatever shit his family was supporting and of course, Jimin’s father had not let the opportunity go to waste and had told his son to take Taehyung as an example.

Taehyung thinks of all the possible things he could say. He knew Jimin was upset the whole night. He’d not thought of what to say but had just followed his instinct to come after his friend and maybe console him and offer to ditch the dinner, but now he doesn’t even know what to say.

“Thought so,” Jimin hisses and tries to walk past him, but Taehyung grabs his shoulder and Jimin yanks it away.

“Just leave me the fuck alone, Taehyung. You and Jungkook should stay the fuck away from me if you know what’s good for you.”

“What has Guk have to do with this?” Taehyung asks, voice low in warning.

It’s amazing how he can go from 0 to 100 at the mention of the younger male.

“Everything!” Jimin exclaims. The walls are supposed to be soundproof; they might as well test them out.

“If he hadn’t opened his big mouth, my parents wouldn’t have found out about the academy, they wouldn’t have found out about Yoongi and they wouldn’t have made me choose between the two.”

A long time ago, the black-haired male had been attending a dance academy near their school without his parents’ knowledge— perks of private boarding school and uncaring parents. Jimin’s brother had been the one who had helped him sign up and had convinced their parents that donating to the Min academy would make them look good to the public and eliminate the rumours of them being on bad terms with the Mins which as a result ended up covering the black-haired male’s tuition.

Jimin had been good, one of the best students and he’d felt at home. At the academy, he could pretend that his future was not already set out and he was going to become a performer someday; that although he was starting to like boys more than girls, there had been nothing wrong.

That even though the two years elder rapper didn’t like him as much as he did him, it was fine, because he still had dance to go back to.

But then Jungkook had gone and had to open his damn mouth and tell Jimin’s parents that he was attending the same academy as the elder male and ruin the other’s life. He thinks that’s when everything went completely left in his life. His parents’ control amplified, he started getting withdrawal symptoms from dance and the academy and didn’t understand why Yoongi would not stop trying to get him to dance again.

The elder male had never found out why Jimin had suddenly stopped with dancing and decided to do whatever his parents expected of him. He never told him, because he didn’t want the rapper to look down at him.

Instead, he’d tried to get Yoongi to quit music. It was not personal; he just thought it was only fair of the elder to give up on Agust D or Min Suga or whatever he was underground, for him.

“It isn’t Jungkook’s fault and you know that,” Taehyung tells him firmly.

Of-fucking-course the peach haired male would defend the other. It was nothing new. Jungkook never did anything wrong.

“It is his freaking fault. He shouldn’t have said a darn thing!!”

“You guys were going to be on TV, your parents would have found out eventually,” the peach haired male tells him.

“By then I would have gotten scouted. I was planning on doing dance— “

“Then you should have! No one forced you to pick Yoongi-hyung over dance. You just didn’t like it as much you claim if you were willing to toss it aside for a relationship that had started off rocks!”

Taehyung’s gentle voice is gone. He’s now looking at him as if talking to an annoying bug, voice void of all emotions, cold and detached.

They both stand there glaring at each other. Jimin has his fists clenched by his side, bottom lip caught between his teeth as he bites off the dried skin, he bites and bites a little harder until he tastes blood on his tongue.

“What an understanding friend you are. Sorry, I can’t go back inside and celebrate your presence, but I’m sure you’ll try to understand or not, not that I really give a fuck,” he sneers and turns to leave. He stops at the door, but then shakes his head and pulls the door open.

He needs a drink.

 

+

 

It was a nice day. The weather was surprisingly warm considering fall was chasing the summer away and the leaves had started falling outside. It would be nice to lie on the patio and catch some sunlight before it completely got cold and wet, but he guesses today couldn’t be helped.

He runs his tongue across the top of his teeth inside his mouth and scrolls throw the news feeds. There’s nothing new really, except a few articles of his dinner with Jimin’s parents and also a few about the food donation.

He’s not surprised that the media had gotten wind of the night and nor had his mother been surprised to see the paparazzi at the hotel. She may not have said it, but later she’d hugged Jimin’s mother a little longer and smiled a little softer for the pictures to turn out well.

If they drove the whole way and waited they might as well take some good pictures, she’d told them in the elevator on their way upstairs. It hadn’t always been like this; she hadn’t always acted this unbothered by the paparazzi.

It had taken her a few years to be able to walk out of the house without being anxious or startled—all three of them.

He takes a deep breath, eyes closing to push the memories away. It was not the time to walk down memory lane.

His opens his eyes and looks back to his screen. There’s a picture of his mother exchanging pecks with Jimin’s mother from another angle. This one had managed to capture the diamond bracelet hanging on her left wrist. The writer, whoever he was had commented on the jewellery being an engagement gift, went even as far as insinuating that Taehyung’s mother might be engaged.

Another article with a similar picture also has a picture of Hyejin’s father, Ahn Gunho next to his mother stating that the two were obviously ready to tie the knot after all these years. Under the statement, there’s a picture of Taehyung and Hyejin in a jewellery shop—she’d lost one of her earrings in Osaka during the concert and wanted to ask if she could get a replica—and apparently, that’s all they needed to strengthen their news.

He grins at how absurd it all sounds, but guesses that they have to make a living somehow.

However, his smile doesn’t last long. The front door of the atelier opens and he’s reminded once again why he’s not outside enjoying this beautiful day.

He locks his phone and looks up at the woman who has been irritating him lately. He hasn’t been in the atelier for a while and he feels regretful that they had to make such bad memories in a pretty place like this.

“You haven’t been coming to class,” she tells him in greeting.

He’s chosen to sit at the left desk near the window a little away from her table. He smiles and tilts his head refusing to stand up or bow his head—it’s not like she lays value on respect.

“I had other matters,” he responds her. They weren’t learning shit and anything else he needed to know, Da In was filling him in through Kakao Talk. Though Taehyung could have easily gotten notes and information from someone else, he’s still thankful that the girl had reached out to him—he can see himself hanging out with her in the near future, unlike with someone else.

She presses her lips together disapprovingly and huffs. “I can see that you’ve been busy,” she throws a white envelope on the table.

He looks at it and then raises his eyebrows at her questioningly. He’s got his elbow propped on the large desk, cheek leaning in his hand.

“Open it,” she orders.

His eyebrows rise even higher and a smirk appears on his face.

 _Cute._ He thinks.

He doesn’t move to open the envelope but just stares at the teacher until she sighs.

“You should be able to recognise something you sent me,” she says accusingly, eyes darting to the white envelope.

Taehyung follows her gaze and stares at the object. A part of him considers not opening it just to annoy her even more. He can tell that she’s mad; she keeps on nibbling on her upper lip, tapping her foot and fumbling with her hands.

“I’d recognise it. If I had sent it to you,” he repeats her words unfazed.

She inhales deeply, hand rising to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Stop playing games with me; I know you know and sent me this letter!” she hisses, grabbing the envelope with shaky hands and opening it.

Her red face almost makes him want to laugh because he hasn’t said anything to her, but she’s already this emotional.

She pulls out a sheet of paper, eyes skimming through it before looking up at him as she literally stamps it on the desk in front of him. She jabs at the letter with her index finger and it’s comical because her eyes are wide, nostrils flaring and he thinks she’s going to’ jump on the table and start throwing things, but she closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths.

She steps away and walks to the window, back turned to him.

The male stares after her in bafflement and wonders what Jungkook has gotten himself into. Great, now they’ve got a crazy adjunct teacher on their hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope I did not disappoint anyone with the lack of Taekook interaction. But as I had mentioned, other characters also play import roles in this fic. Thank you for reading till the end. Leave comments, kudos, rant for not having a Taekook interaction or bashing Jimin's dad. Until next time^^


	7. Good Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Someone is blackmailing Kim Yongsun,” he supplied with a roll of his eyes.  
> “The adjunct professor?” she recalled the name from his last session and Jungkook’s.  
> He nodded his head, a mischievous glint settled in his eyes. “Aren’t you gonna ask me if I’m blackmailing her?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been following the fic and stayed xD A big thx to everyone that has been leaving comments and kudos^^ After contemplating for a long while and discussing with Jacks, I decided that I'm going to stick to writing in past tense because mixing the tenses was kinda messy. so sorry to anyone who might get confused due to my indecisiveness in the beginning.

Last but not least,  a big thanx to my amazing beta: [Livelydinosaurrawr](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Livelydinosaurrawr/pseuds/Livelydinosaurrawr) who not only beta-ed this chap with me but also gave me encouraging feedback (^_^) song rec: [Good Enough- Nightcore](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DyqFja1nqK58&sa=D&ust=1501427908417000&usg=AFQjCNHbaoG3iyXFTbclDxZ461pqBXiZLw) Without any further delay, ENJOY!!^^

* * *

 

Jimin set his phone back onto the coffee table before it could slip out of his hand and onto the carpeted room. His toes coil and nails dug into the leather sofa, lips opening slightly as a silent moan left his mouth, eyes turning into the back of his head at the sensation.

Every part of his body was vibrating and tingling with pleasure. The lips on his jaw slid down his neck, teeth nibbling and biting applying the right amount of pleasure, hands kneaded and squeezed at all the right places. The hot body above warming a part of him he thought to have lost to the coldness.

At that moment, all of his distress was gone. He felt whole, even if it was just for a split second, he felt whole and happy—something he hasn’t been for a while. His parents’ disappointment, his falling grades and weight gain was forgotten for the moment.

All he was feeling was lust—lust to quell the turmoil in his life; making him forget everything that was falling apart because he didn’t seem to have a grasp of what was going on or of what he was supposed to be doing.

He supposed it would’ve eventually happened; he’d have hit a dead end at some point in his life.

His head tilted to the side as warm lips travelled down his collar bone—hasty rough hands fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. An annoyed grunt left the other male’s mouth when he realizes that Jimin still had his shirt tucked into his pants.

The black-haired male just chuckled, tilting his head up for a kiss which the other male complied with. There was nothing sweet or romantic about the kiss. It was rough and demanding, just the way it should have been because it wasn’t supposed to happen again.

It shouldn’t have made him want to come back for more. Shouldn’t have made him sit in his room and wonder whether it would be too soon to hit him up again, whether he was meeting up with him too often.

Half an hour later they were rushing around the room trying to put their clothes back on.

“How long?” Jimin asked, looking around the room for his second sock. His lower back hurt, only serving as a reminder of what he’d previously done but he ignored it, he wasn’t going to give the other male something to brag about.

He found his shirt on the floor and picked it up, slipped it on, but before he could button it up, callous hands stopped him, taking the task out of his hands. He watched with caution as those familiar fingers buttoned up his shirt and tried to keep his heart at bay.

He refrained himself from fanning his face—suddenly it was too hot in the room and his stomach was feeling things it shouldn’t be feeling. He wondered whether the other male could also hear his heart beating so loudly, wondered whether he also felt the same.

As if he’d heard his thought, Yoongi looked up and gave him a lopsided grin.

“How long?” Jimin asked without finishing the question, but the other understood, his voice was low, barely above a whisper, but the elder male heard nonetheless. His eyes darted to the digital clock above the studio door and then back to the black-haired male.

“An hour, top,” he rasped, his face already inching closer.

Jimin barely had enough time to take it in, before Yoongi trapped his bottom lip between his teeth, he gasped lewdly when the other’s hands ripped his shirt, causing the buttons to fly out, but now his chest was open and free to explore and most importantly his shirt wasn’t tucked in.

They stumble back onto the sofa with Jimin straddling the elder male this time, both knees on Yoongi’s either sides. He tilted his neck and let him suck at the junction between his neck and shoulder—he knew it was the elder’s favourite spot.

The other’s hands wandered south to his pants and Jimin felt his stomach chant with anticipation as his nails dug into Yoongi’s scalp rather forcefully.

It was not gentle or loving, but simply perfect.

He may regret this later, but for now, all he wanted was to feel a different type of pain.

## +

**Flashback**

 

_Wheein walked into the Park's house trying to keep the wide grin off her face. She felt like her body was about to erupt with all the excitement. She'd spent the whole Summer imagining this moment. How she'd come back, see Bogum, kiss Bogum, date Bogum and kiss him more. She almost skipped out of joy._

_"Bogum," she mouthed his name for the umpteenth time, her hands tightening on the small box in her hands. Had he also thought of her during the Summer like she has of him? Was he also going to be excited to see her?_

_Their butler, Kal stopped at the top of the stairs and pointed down the hall._

_"Just go down the hall and turn left and when you hear the music, you'll be there,_ _young Miss," he told her, bowing slightly before walking away._

 _She nodded even after he’d walked off, dismissing his stoic_ _behaviour in contrast to their own workers at home who were_ _lively and friendly, but she guessed each household had different customs. She shrugged and climbed the final steps up the stairs, slowly, though all she wanted was to run._

_Her heart was hammering, fingers turning cold by the time she got to the wide doors leading into the big party room and she could hear music coming from the huge doors that led to the big party room on the second floor of the Park’s house. Some girls came out of the room running past her giggling, but she didn’t care about them. All she wanted was him. The boy who was standing at the snack bar having a staring contest with the punch bowl._

_Was he even expecting her? He'd sent her an invitation, but everyone attending had been invited, he’d probably done it out of politeness. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. They were together, not officially, but they were together since the beginning of summer so it was only natural that she, his girlfriend, would come to his birthday._

_She didn’t know what it was, but suddenly, she couldn’t see anything or anyone else but him in the room; the music and voices around her faded. The flattering in her stomach intensified and she had to hold herself together to not trip over her feet—she was wearing heels, it would be so embarrassing._

_What worried her more than tripping over her feet was how she should congratulate him. How did one congratulate their not official boyfriend?_

_As if he had sensed her, his head snapped up and his puppy round eyes landed_ _on_ _her just when she was about to call to him. They both stood there staring at each other, her mouth gaping open, and his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe she was actually there._

_But he recovered quickly, soon a wide grin replaced his surprised features and he approached her in wide strides. She couldn’t help but notice how tall he had gotten—not that he hadn’t been tall before, but now she looked tiny next to him—thank God, she’d chosen to wear heels._

_"Well that is one reaction, I wasn't expecting," she chuckled, when he picked her up in an embrace and then put her back down._

_"Win-ah, you came!" he beamed at her, eyes glistening in joy._

_"You invited me," she grinned right back, craning her neck to meet his eyes. Damn him and his tallness!_

_"Yes, but I mean you're back," he exclaimed, gesturing at her to emphasize his statement._

_Wheein giggled, "Since this morning."_

_"Oh my God!"_

_"No, handsome, it's just me in flesh," she told him, giggling when he wrinkled his nose at her cheesy joke, but he laughed along._

_"It's really you," he prompted as if not believing it. Even after he’d held her, he still couldn’t believe that she was back._

_"Yeah, along with my jet-lag,” she rolled her eyes good naturedly, trying not to drown with the way he was looking at her, the way he was smiling._

_"Happy Birthday, Gumi-Oppa," she tiptoed, putting her arms around his neck and pulling him down so she could place a kiss_ _on his lips. She put all her effort into this one kiss. It was the kiss that she had been worried about. It had to be perfect, fireworks had to go up somewhere, and butterflies were to be felt. And her practice seemed to have paid off_ _because Bogum held her tighter when she was about to pull away._

_It was their first kiss after the summer._

_Both were a blushing mess when they pulled apart, but they could not get themselves to let go of each other. "I got you a present" she muttered, pulling one of her arms from around his neck and handing him the small purple package._

_"Kal wanted to put it with the other presents, but I was too excited!" she clapped her palms together excitedly, a broad smile as she watched him inspect the box._

_He shook it a little, listening carefully_ _to_ _the contents inside._ _"You want me to open it now?"_

_Wheein could do nothing but nod._

_"Alright, let's see," he winked at her, making the both of them laugh uncontrollably._

_"Wheein-ah, why didn't you tell me that you were back!?" a familiar voice cut into their bubble, pulling them back into the room with everyone else. The music returned along with the chatter around them._

_Both of them looked away from each other only to find Taehyung approaching them, a broad smile on his face, next to him was a girl with blonde hair; the two of them looked like they’d spent their summer bathing in the sun. Even without introductions, Wheein knew who the girl was, Ahn Hyejin._

_Taehyung’s future step-sister and her mortal enemy, she should have known._

_Wheein hadn’t had the chance of meeting_ _her_ _but had only heard of her by passing or seen her in the news with her father and siblings, but seeing her live seemed…. threatening. She had this alarming air around her that made the hairs on your skin raise, her eyes seemed bored but also sharp at the same time as if she could read you—she reminded her of Taehyung, sometimes he had a knowing look in his eyes._

_Taehyung didn’t give her a minute to react and before she knew it, he was hugging her. As disappointed as she had been for being interrupted, she couldn’t help but return the familiar embrace and smile at her friend, because she had missed him as well._

_Meanwhile_ _, Taehyung’s step-sister was busy making moves on her Bogum, laughing and flirting and making him blush. He had never blushed around her, at least not to something she’s ever said._

_Wheein didn't like it. It wasn't like she was jealous or anything, but the minute those two had shown up, Bogum had forgotten about her. And now she stood there not knowing what to do or say, watching how her boyfriend was inching closer to another girl and trying not to stare at the said girl’s thighs. Wheein had to admit, she had pretty thighs and her chest was more developed than hers and…okay, her body was overall more developed, but she was the girlfriend, right?_

_The three had talked for a while and Wheein had tried to follow the conversation, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from narrowing whenever the girl brushed her hand on_ _Bogum’s_ _arm as she laughed or when he leaned more into her as she spoke. It annoyed her that he was stepping more and more away from her, the moment they had had before the two had arrived felt like one of her imaginations._

_What bothered her the most was the fact that they were still standing in the middle of the damn room, where everyone could stare and were watching and would later gossip. It’s not like they hadn’t drawn attention by kissing earlier, but with Taehyung and his step-sister arriving, the attention was tenfold._

_It was then that she heard her name being mentioned and she blinked, mouth opening to respond but nothing came out. Hyewitch was staring expectantly at her, one eyebrow raised, a smirk on her face._

_She realized after a few heartbeats that Taehyung was belatedly introducing them to each other. An embarrassed blush on her face, she tried to smile at the girl as she waved at her rather casually, although according to her knowledge, she was older than the girl._

_Soon after, the conversation carried on, Taehyung and his witch of a step-sister talking, completing each other’s sentences and teasing the birthday boy—excluding Wheein._

_If Wheein had thought she didn't like Hyewitch, then she hated her after that day._

_It hadn't been because of their first impression of each other or the fact that Bogum had gone off with his cousin and the witch leaving her standing alone in the middle of judging eyes, but of what had happened next._

_She’d witnessed Hyewitch kissing her boyfriend. She should have interrupted them or walked away, but her feet had kept her to watch the scene. The brazen girl had then told Bogum that she was granting him permission to date her._

_Maybe Wheein had expected too much from Bogum; she’d thought he’d reject her, kindly because he was nice and Hyejin was kind of like family, but it hadn’t been the case. He’d grinned from ear to ear, even asked if he could kiss her again and then told her that she wasn’t allowed to take it back—he looked like he’d received the best birthday present of all time._

_Technically, his birthday had been long over, he’d just decided to celebrate it at the end of summer—and the best gift he’d received was Wheein, not the witch._

_Wheein stood there watching her boyfriend kiss someone else —had they even been together? They never talked about their relationship after sleeping together on the last day of summer camp and then she had gone off to Africa with her father after that._

_He_ _ran_ _off back to the party with a skip in his step for someone else without any thoughts of her—Had she been the only one who had found their first-time special? Had it been a one-sided relationship?_

_She’d thought that their feelings had been mutual, that he had liked her; that’s why she’d given herself to him._

_"Something wrong?" she heard the witch ask, the girl was suddenly standing in front of her, head tilted slightly, a smirk on her face as if she’d been observing her for a long time._

_"Where's Bogum-oppa?" Wheein asked, voice shaking and she disliked it at once._

_“Is he all you think about?” Hyejin asked. “Do you have a shrine for him in your bedroom?” Her smirk widened, her eyes looking more cat-like. “Is that why you gave yourself to him so easily?”_

_Hyejin seemed to have hit home. Her smirk turned into a full grin when she noticed Wheein bite on her top lip, trying to blink away her tears. Her small hands were balled into fists_ _beside_ _her body._

_She has always been too emotional and transparent with her feelings._

_“You don’t know anything about us!” She hissed through clenched teeth._

_Hyejin’s eyebrows rose mockingly. “Did I say something wrong? Wasn’t that what happened during summer camp? – He was nice to you and you mistook the gesture for something more, ergo you opened your legs for him, thinking the two of you would sail into the sunset after the summer. Did I miss something?” she made a face as if contemplating, lips pursed._

_Wheein’s ears were buzzing; heart pounding and she found it hard to_ _breathe_ _. Had he told people? Why would he tell people about it? She knew he was not the type to do that, but how did Hyejin find out? Wheein hadn’t talked to anyone ever since she’d left for Africa._

_She wanted to run…run and hide and cry and never go outside again. It explained why everyone was looking at her when she’d shown up. Why they’d all been whispering and snickering._

_“Who told you that?” she demanded through the lump in her throat. She would not cry in front of this girl._

_“You weren’t really quiet that night at summer camp,” Hyejin whispered as if it were a secret._

_Wheein wouldn’t have felt so humiliated of people finding out if the said boy was dating her, but the fact that he had humped and dumped her was what was eating her up._

_"Oh, no, he didn’t dump you, sweetheart. He merely slid past you, let’s not get too carried away,” the girl said condescendingly, hand reaching out to tuck a strand of Wheein’s hair behind her ear, reminding her of Jimin. She was talking almost the same way Jimin had spoken to her the first time they'd met; voice sweet but spitting venom, nonetheless._

_"You already took him away from me, what do you want?” she asked, not knowing why the girl was so high bent on rubbing it into her face that she’d been stupid._

_Hyejin took a deep breath and sighed loudly as if thinking of something humorous to say. Her face settled into a cold grin._

_“All I want is for you to stay in your lane. Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t. That train has already left.”_

_“It’s funny how you’re the one who has him, but you still sound so insecure.”_

_That might have been the most reaction Wheein has ever gotten out of the witch. Hyejin chuckled airily; teeth on display, making her look even colder than before._

_What in the world did Bogum see in her?_

_Her laugh died down and she fixed Wheein with another mocking look. “Trust me, little girl, you’re not significant enough to make me insecure or relevant enough to leave an impact in someone’s life.”_

_She scoffed one last time, before turning around and striding away in her much higher shoes._

_"Next time make sure he wants you and not your body, maybe he'll stay!"_

_Wheein did not know how long she stood there listening to her brain call her names over and over again. Tears uncontrollably cascaded down her face no matter how much she bit onto her bottom lip or closed her eyes tightly to stop them—all she knew was that she’d just experienced her first heartbreak at the age of fifteen._

_And she was feeling hurt and alone in a house full of people she called her friends, that her ~~boyfriend~~  Bogum had chosen Hyejin over her, that she had not been good enough to be chosen by him— maybe she had never even stood a chance  ~~against Hyejin~~  from the beginning._

_They’d all known each other before Wheein had moved here—Bogum and Hyejin’s body language had spoken of familiarity and comfort; history between two people that knew a lot of each other and spent a great amount of time together. She should have noticed it in the beginning when Hyejin had shown up, but she’d been too blinded by his sweet smiles, gentle looks and had failed to notice the way the two had gravitated towards each other like waves towards the shore; a moth to a flame._

_They were a tight-closed circle and hadn’t let anyone in— it was only natural that they’d pick each other. Only Wheein had thought to have been part of the inner circle._

## +

Wheein was not one to hold grudges, but if there was one person she could say she disliked then it would be Ahn Hyejin. The girl did not just manage to steal Wheein’s boyfriend, but she’d also made it her life mission to make Wheein’s life difficult whenever she was around, which wasn’t often since the witch had somehow become a famous singer, but those days she was around, Wheein knew it wasn’t going to be fun.

Which is why she stood at the counter with Hoseok and his cousin waiting for their orders in JUVEL, hoping the waiter would hurry up so she could leave the cafe before Taehyung and Hyejin saw them. The two were sitting on the second floor engrossed in a conversation.

For the first time, Wheein cursed the glass walls that enabled the customers to see a small part of the main floor and vice versa.

However, she should have known that today wasn’t going to be a good day; all the signs had been there, but she’d just decided to ignore them. She’d forgotten her wallet, which should have been a hint enough, but Hoseok had insisted he’d pay for her, then some guy had almost run her over on his bike at Uni and the last and probably the biggest sign had been her stomach ache all morning— as if her body was trying to warn her of something.

She tried to ignore the pair and listen to Da In talking about her classes and tried hard to nod along or follow but her mind kept going back to the pair on the second floor. She wanted to walk over there and ask Hyejin if this was the last time. Whether she broke up with Bogum for good this time, but even she knew it would look desperate and pathetic— not that the last few times she’d given in to him, whenever he came to her after breaking up with Hyejin hadn’t been pitiful.

Not that every time she’d listened to him explain the reason for their break up and let him kiss her; use her to get over his break up in hopes he’d choose her this time, only for him to leave her the minute Hyejin contacts him wasn’t desperate enough—after all, he only saw Wheein as a very good friend.

She forced a smile at Da In and wondered whether she’d also been like her in the beginning; chatty and excited about everything.

It was Hoseok cursing under his breath that interrupted Da In from telling them about how weird their adjunct professor was behaving that morning. Both girls looked at him, one with irritation and the other hopefully, glad for the interruption, but he was looking somewhere else, more precisely, at Taehyung and Hyejin, who were peering down at them.

Wheein felt Hoseok tense beside her, saw his jaw clench and heard him inhale and exhale sharply. She wondered how her own expression looked from another person’s perspective.

Taehyung and Hyejin just stared at them, twin nonchalant looks were sitting on their faces as if they were not really looking, but they all knew they were. They had to have, Da In hadn’t been speaking too quietly.

“Oh, it’s Taehyung-oppa!” Da In exclaimed, face brightening.

Oppa?

Since when had Taehyung become her Oppa?

It’s seemed like Hoseok had the same thought because his head turned around so fast— Wheein feared he might have gotten whiplash— and he glared at his cousin.

“Is that Whasa?” she asked, surprise in her voice. As if not believing that there was a celebrity at the cafe near their Uni.

She looked at her cousin and then at Wheein. “Let’s go say hi!”

“No,” was Hoseok’s curt answer.

Da In frowned. “They saw us; don’t be so rude and let’s go say hi,” she tried to pull him along, but he didn’t budge.

“No, you’ll be the one being rude,” Hoseok refused to be pulled by her.

She huffed irritated and stamped her foot. “Fine. Whatever, then I’ll just go with Unni.”

She turned to Wheein, eyes looking at her hopefully, “You’re Taehyung-Oppa’s close friend.”

Wheein didn’t miss the way Hoseok’s left eye twitched at the word  _‘Oppa’_. “Shouldn’t you at least say hi?” Da In asked.

All the while, Wheein could feel two pairs of eyes watching them. Could they hear them? Da In wasn’t speaking as loudly as before, plus there was music playing in the café, which made it impossible to hear them, but again, the two had a niche for knowing things they shouldn’t—Wheein still hasn’t figured out where Hyejin found out about Bogum and her. She’d even gone as far as asking him whether he’d told anyone or if they’d been too loud that night, but he’d denied both topics.

Hoseok spoke up instead interrupting her thoughts.

“What would be rude is for us going up there, so be a good girl and wait for your food right here, alright?” he snapped at her, answering for Wheein which lifted a burden off her chest because she didn’t know how to respond to the girl.

She understood Da In’s enthusiasm of meeting new people; people you mostly saw in the media and the old Wheein might have gritted her teeth and taken her to the second floor to grant her the wish, but the new Wheein couldn’t.

She wasn’t sure whether she could be around Hyejin and hold her tongue. A part of her wanted to taunt the girl, push her buttons until she showed her true mask and everyone saw her true self—until Bogum realized how bad she was for him.

_It was funny how she thought Hyejin needed to look bad in order for Bogum to give her a chance._

And yet, it was ironic how she couldn’t seem to date anyone else because she kept comparing them to Bogum, no one measured up to him, no one made her feel the way he did. It was crazy, her borderline infatuation with him and yet she couldn’t stop—she’d fallen far too deep.

In the meantime, Hoseok and his cousin glared at each other before Da In crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes in defeat.

“But he told me I could say hi to him when I see him out of class.”

“Who did?” Hoseok demanded.

“Taehyung-Oppa,” Da In snarled at her cousin, but he ignored it.

Instead, he turned his head to look at the male still sitting on the second floor, looking at them with a blank face, Hyejin was taking a selfie with a fan.

“Stay away from him,” he hissed at his cousin, turning back around.

Da In threw him a sceptic look over her shoulder.

“Just… don't let him get too close to you,” he mumbled, sounding a little softer than before.

She shifted her gaze to Wheein in question as if asking for an explanation.

Even Wheein didn’t know why Hoseok had a vendetta against Taehyung. They used to get along, but at some point, something happened and the trainee hasn’t looked at Taehyung the same way.

“Get to know him on your own terms,” Wheein smiled lightly at Da In.

“You’re biased so your opinion doesn’t count,” he interjected.

“And you’re freaking pressed!” Da In murmured under her breath, but it was loud enough for both to hear.

Wheein took one last look behind her shoulder to find the table vacant. The two had probably left when they’d realized that they wouldn’t be in peace for too long. Usually, Taehyung got enough buzz when he was in a place, but with Hyejin along, the paparazzi was only a few bushes away. She wondered why they’d even bothered going there in the first place.

She let out a breath she hadn’t been aware to have been holding and gazed around the restaurant to make sure they’d actually left, but a familiar black car parked outside the restaurant on the sidewalk caught her attention and she wondered why she hadn’t seen the car while she’d walked by.

Of course, he came running as soon as she got back; he always did.

Nothing has changed.

At this point, she shouldn’t be disappointed or upset, but she couldn’t help it.

She let out a bitter laugh shaking her head, cursing her luck—or in this case lack of it.

## +

Coming back home had not been easy. Yes, he had been alone in another country, but he hadn’t missed anyone. Frankly, he’d felt more comfortable by himself than he was now. That was probably one of the reasons why he had come back; he was afraid he’d get used to the isolation, but he didn’t want that to happen. He needed associates for their future.

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing as Dr Lin took notes in her notepad.

“Are you ready to talk about your return?” she asked him.

Taehyung mused. “I’d rather not go there.”

“Why?” Dr Lin asked, uncrossing her left leg and crossing the right one over it. “You also didn’t want to talk about it two weeks ago and the weeks before that as well.”

Taehyung sighed dramatically. “There are things I prefer to not talk about.”

“You’re avoiding the subject; of course, you’re already aware of it.” It was not a question, but an observation.

They’ve sat together too many times, had too many unsuccessful sessions because Taehyung refused to communicate, like today.

The peach haired male didn’t respond, instead, he fixed her with a blank look.

“But avoiding it won’t make it old news or go away. It’ll still be there, nagging at you,” she told him. He knew this, it was nothing new.

“Why do we have to talk about why I came back? Can’t we just talk about how I’m doing now?” he asked instead, voice detached.

Dr Lin perked up, surprised that he’d suggested a topic for once. Normally, it was her who would ask questions and receive clipped short answers or something off topic.

Usually, she got more out of Jungkook than Taehyung, because unlike the elder male, the younger wasn’t so afraid of showing his true feelings.

“I already asked you how you were doing and you said fine or did you lie?” She raised one of her eyebrows inquisitively.

He shook his head slightly. “I’m fine, not good, but also not bad, just fine.”

“What does that mean?” She scribbled something on her notepad and the latter peered at what she was noting down but looked away before she looked back up at him.

“Just fine,” he shrugged with an exhausted exhale.

“Fine is neutral territory; are you saying you’re unfeeling at the moment?”

“Take it as you want.”

“Look, this is not getting us anywhere. I could write down whatever I want as you just stated and prescribe you meds and end this session right now, but I want to help, I want to make what’s worth of my paycheck.”

“Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone that these sessions aren’t working. I’ll even recommend you,” he smiled at her, sounding so genuine, but the empty look in his eyes said otherwise.

Dr Lin nodded and closed her notepad. “You’re slipping back,” she said.

Her voice was not sympathizing nor reprimanding because she knew he hated it, he hated people pitying him and walking on eggshells around him—it was why it hadn’t worked with his first doctor.

Apparently, she’d felt more than enough for herself and her two other patients, that’s what Taehyung had told her.

It had been hard in the beginning because Taehyung was observant. While Dr Lin was studying the two boys, Taehyung had been studying her as well. She hadn’t realized this until Jungkook had fallen ill and couldn’t attend the session and Taehyung had attended alone.

He had been a different person.

Taehyung with Jungkook was soft, warm and open. Taehyung without Jungkook was calculative, closed-off and unpredictable. The first easy going sessions with the younger male present had seemed like a far away reverie. Taehyung had taken over the session, dictating it, however, he liked—which should have been the case, except that he’d somehow managed to learn more about Dr Lin than she’d learned about him.

They’d not told her why their last doctor had quit and the one before that, but after her session with Taehyung alone, she’d understood. The boy could be scary when he wanted to be.

But as much as the ten-year-old boy had scared her, she’d decided not to give up on him—or them since rejecting Taehyung had meant rejecting Jungkook as well.

Her first objective had been to separate the two; really get to know the two individually without seeing them as a set. Surprisingly, Taehyung had agreed without a complaint. It had been Jungkook who had had a difficulty with the short separation—

She repressed a sigh. “Well, it’s not like you’re giving me a lot to work with.”

He didn’t answer to that but merely looked at the clock pointedly.

“I heard you haven’t been eating much lately, even less than before you came back. Are you still not comfortable with being back?”

She noticed him purse his lips, it was a small shift on his face, but she’d been his doctor for so many years that she was able to tell immediately.

“Do you still get the nightmares?”

His eyes narrowed before they shut, his fingers stopped fiddling with each other on his lap. One of his hand rose to rub at his temples. He often did that due to the constant headaches he had.

“Someone is blackmailing Kim Yongsun,” he supplied with a roll of his eyes.

“The adjunct professor?” she recalled the name from his last session and Jungkook’s.

He nodded his head, a mischievous glint settled in his eyes. “Aren’t you gonna ask me if I’m blackmailing her?”

Something eerie pierced through the air, causing the hairs on her neck to raise and her heart rate to increase. The temperature in the room lowered a few degrees and yet she was feeling sweaty.

She settled back into her chair, putting distance between the boy across from her.  “Are you?” she inquired as unaffected as she could. Even after many years of having Taehyung as her patient, she hadn't managed to adjust to the boy's alarming aura.

He regarded her for a split second, piercing brown eyes holding her in place and then he smirked. “No.”

She visibly let out a breath she hadn’t known to have been holding which didn’t go unnoticed by him. He chuckled lightly and she tried not to roll her eyes at him.

The suffocating moment was gone just as fast as it had arrived, although the warning signs were still lingering in the air.

She picked up her notepad and opened it.

“Do you know who is blackmailing her?” she asked, eyes observing him, trying to catch any hint of a lie.

“No.”

“But she thinks it’s me.”

“Why?”

She shut the notepad and watched how Taehyung’s eyes lingered on the small book before looking back at her.

“Because it could have been me,” he shrugged.

“Were you planning on blackmailing the professor?” she asked him keeping any sense of judgement out of her voice.

He laughed at this. “It’s too much of a nuisance. I just told her to stay away from Kookie but I guess I’m not the only person she’s pissed off,” it sounded like he was speaking of the weather.

“Taehyung, did you tell her that it’s not you?” she asked him firmly.

He nodded.

“But she didn’t believe you,” Dr Lin stated aloud.

Taehyung tilted his head contemplatively. “Would you have believed me if you were in her shoes?”

Dr Lin considered everything she had heard from both Jungkook and Taehyung and sighed.

“Have you spoken to Jungkook about it?”

He seemed disappointed that she hadn’t answered his question, but he slipped to nonchalance quickly.

“Jungkookie is acting different lately; he’s not how he used to be,” he responded then shot a glance at the clock. They still had a good half hour.

“How different?” she prompted.

His eyes stared at the flower vase on the table, brows furrowing and un-furrowing until a frown showed up on his face.

“I don’t know… happy?”

As soon as the frown had come it went.

“Isn’t that what you wanted? For him to be happy?” she asked him.

He shot her a look as if he’d been slapped. “Of course, I want Kookie to be happy,” he emphasized as if she wouldn’t understand.

“But not with someone else,” she prompted.

His eyes narrowed. “You’re putting words I never said into my mouth.”

She nodded and picked up her notepad to make notes. She knew where to stop with him.

“I’m overwhelmed,” it was a small whisper, one she barely caught.

She stopped writing for a moment and looked up, leaning closer, “Why is that?”

He was looking at the clock again, posture straight in the single sofa, face passive, but she knew he was going through a lot in his head at that moment, probably trying to sort his mental state behind his closed lids.

“I want to cry but I can’t,” his eyes opened and looked directly at her.

“And why is that?” Dr Lin asked, voice quiet, trying not to ruin the tranquil in the room.

She didn’t know how long he’d be willing to corporate, so she tried to get as much out of him as possible.

He shrugged lifelessly. “Everything just hurts physically and mentally,” he sounded exhausted. “But at the same time, it doesn’t. I feel but then I don’t; it's scary because I want to feel but at the same time I don’t.”

## +

 

Taehyung placed his MacBook bag and a few books onto Jungkook’s side table, making sure not to wake the younger male, who had fallen asleep reading—his books were still lying open beside him on the carpet. The peach haired male kneeled down and closed them—not before earmarking the pages the younger had been reading and then cleared them away.

He went back next to the younger male, scooted over slowly and lied down next to him; facing the gypsum ceiling with the aquarium. Though it was fake, the peach haired male could still hear the sounds of the waves in the ocean when he closed his eyes and could taste the salty air on his tongue.

He could pretend to feel the warm sun rays against his skin, the birds chirping and sand under his feet.

But when his eyes opened, he found himself back in Jungkook’s living room, lying on the not surprisingly warm carpet, but even with an oversized hoodie and Jungkook lying next to him, he still felt a chill run through his veins.

_It was cold._

He shifted the arm propped under his head and turned onto his side so he was facing the sleeping male; his hand lifted over the other’s face to retrace his features without really touching him. His index finger ran along the younger’s thick eyebrows, around his shut eyes, down to the slop of his big, but adorable nose and then lingered onto his cupid bow.

Jungkook looked peaceful with no worries in the world, reminding the elder of the small boy he used to be. His small Jungkookie that used to follow him around with a wide grin on his face; the one who wouldn’t let go of his hand whenever they were in public because he  _didn’t want to lose him in the crowd_.

Taehyung felt a stab inside his chest, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Thinking about the past was not something he allowed himself to. Unlike Jungkook, he liked living in the present, for the future, but lately, he had been finding it hard to so.

Lately, looking at Jungkook has been making him feel gloomy. The more time he spent with him, the lonelier and empty he felt; it felt like he was drowning, but yet he wasn’t able to stay away.

It was funny because it didn’t matter how much distance he put between them or pushed the younger away, they somehow always ended up back together no matter how crazy their relationship was—but now he wondered whether he’d pushed Jungkook a little too far. Had the younger strayed far enough and decided he liked it there? Better than with Taehyung?

Taehyung didn’t understand what it was about Jungkook that had him so trapped—that had him losing his sanity unapologetically.

Though, sometimes he also wondered whether the younger male would also like him just as much if their lives had been different if they hadn’t grown up together. If Taehyung hadn’t been the only one by his side—sometimes Jungkook would look at him like he was the moon, but Taehyung assumed it was only because the younger hadn’t gotten the chance to look at the other stars in the sky.

If their lives had been different and the younger’s birth family hadn’t passed away, Jungkook would be with a nice girl and Taehyung would not have been this conflicted—maybe.

He let out a silent exhale and let his lid shut and tried not to shiver too much. He made a note to tell the younger to hit up his place, it was fall and the weather was getting colder by the days.

But before he could fully lose his conscious to the darkness, a pair of warm lips pulled him back to the consciousness and he started before his eyes opened to meet familiar doe eyes staring back at him.

Jungkook kissed him again and this time he let him, didn’t startle nor tense, but welcomed him, feeling the muscles in his body relax completely as his eyes shut again. He felt warmth course through his whole body and a content gasp was swallowed by the younger male as he deepened the kiss, leaning more into him, hands sneaking over his waist to pull him closer—that’s when Taehyung’s eyes snapped open and he twisted his head away.

The younger male didn’t chase after him nor did he ask him why he’d pulled away, but his arm remained over his middle, feeling heavy and leaving invisible marks that the elder would later try to scrub off in the shower.

“Don’t do that again,” he heard himself chastise.

“Do what?” Jungkook taunted, turning back to lay on his back, one arm propped behind his head as a makeshift pillow.

“I’m not one of your play things; you can’t just do whatever you want whenever you want with me.”

“Hmmm….” he mused, eyes closing, a side of his lip lifted into an amused smirk.

Taehyung felt another nab at his chest and he resisted rubbing at the spot.

The haired male knew he wasn’t going to get another response from him. They were not fighting, but the signs were there. Jungkook had a lot to say to him and so did he, but neither of them was going to speak up first and the more they stay around each other the stuffier it got.

He picked himself off the carpet to retrieve his things, but Jungkook’s hand shot out and stopped him before he could get up. He looked back at the hand wrapped around his elbow and scoffed at the cliché.

“Don’t be like this,” the younger male said, a charming smile on his face, one that Taehyung wanted to wipe off his face— he resisted the urge to cuddle the younger male for thinking of hurting him. In the past when Taehyung would get angry at Jungkook and curse him in his head, he’d cuddle the younger boy as an apology. As they’d gotten older and hit puberty, they’d have makeup sex, but now—

Taehyung’s lips tighten. “You’re pissing me off,” he watched the smile slip of the younger’s face. “And frankly, testing my patience,” he added and finally saw Jungkook poke the inside of his cheek.

But just as quickly as his anger had come it also disappeared. He shifted, sitting up, hand still wrapped around the elder’s wrist. “Don’t get mad,” he said softly, fingers running up and down his arm lightly, living behind sparks and stories in their wake.

“Do you like it?” Taehyung felt him settle behind him. “Us fighting for no apparent reasons.”

He felt the younger’s warm breath on his skin, behind his ear, causing his body to go pliant with shivers. His head leaned back against the younger’s shoulder out of habit when Jungkook started leaving open-mouthed kisses down his neck to his exposed collar.

_A shaky exhale left his mouth._

_He’s always been weak for his kisses._

“I don’t like us fighting,” Jungkook mouthed behind his neck, hands sneaking inside the hoodie and the T-shirt he was wearing underneath, he stroked his sides, fingers wondering upwards and finally provided the elder male with the warmth he’d had been craving.

_He’s always been weak for his touches._

Taehyung turned his head away when the younger tried to kiss him once again, the hands stroking his sides halted, but they didn’t come out under the hoodie. The younger sat back onto his knees and rested his forehead on his shoulder as they sit there in silence both lost in their own world.

“I’m not mad at you,” Taehyung spoke through the suffocating silence.

“Tae…” Jungkook pleaded; fingers lightly squeezed the other’s sides.

“I’m not,” he prompted.

“You can,” the younger insisted.

Taehyung shook his head. “I don’t want to.”

Jungkook could hear the pout in the other’s voice and he smiled picturing the elder’s face.

“What happened last year— “

“I want to sleep,” Taehyung cut him off.

Jungkook nodded realizing the mistake he’d just made.

“Have you eaten, yet? Let’s have lunch first,” he asked instead, pushing himself off the elder, but Taehyung pulled him back.

“I already had Japchae. Just…I want to sleep,” Taehyung looked at him with soft exhausted eyes and all Jungkook wanted to do was pull him in and cuddle him.

It was funny because in the past it had been Taehyung who had cuddled him whenever he was upset or feeling down. It was Taehyung he’d go to first whenever there was a problem because he knew that the elder would listen. Taehyung would wrap him in his arms, hide with him in their fort and tell him absurd stories until he wasn’t feeling sad anymore.

At first, when he’d moved in with Taehyung and his mother, he’d first gravitated to Ahreum. She’d been the only adult he knew who had been close to his parents. She happened to his godmother and from his memories, she’d always been nice to him even when his parents weren’t around.

Ahreum had sometimes taken Jungkook out for 'bonding time' whenever she'd had time, which had made the little boy like her so much and helped him to stay strong when he’d learned that his parents and Hyung weren’t going to be coming back. He’d held onto her hand the whole time and refused to leave her side for days which should have caused a fight between him and Taehyung because Jungkook had been hogging his mother and he couldn’t have her full attention.

But Taehyung had agreed to share his mother with little eight-year older Jungkook. Taehyung had wiped his tears and told him that they still had each other, that he wasn’t alone and they would become his family—he’d even allowed him to could call Ahreum ‘mum’ at times he missed his mother a lot.

Jungkook figured that Taehyung played a big part in him staying with them and not getting sent off to his grandparents or some relatives who would have munched off of him and sucked all of his inheritance and left him with nothing—he didn’t want to imagine how his life would have ended up if Taehyung and Ahreum hadn’t taken him in.

Maybe his grandparents would have taken him in and groomed him to be a proper Jeon and then he would have lost contact with Taehyung and would only see him during events. He wondered whether Taehyung would’ve made an effort to speak to him again, to reconcile their lost friendship. Whether his grandfather would’ve let him be as close to Taehyung as he was now.

Would Taehyung have approached him and smiled at him the way he did or would he have plastered a polite smile and held superficial small talk with the boy he once knew? Would he have seen Taehyung the way he saw him now or like everyone else? – With high expectations, fake admiration and hunger, lusting over him like a starved dog on a bone.

He probably would have ended up as one of the many people that admired Taehyung from afar or as a has been and Taehyung would have been happy with someone else—maybe even with Jimin or Wheein, who knew.

But Jungkook was selfish and as much as he wanted to see Taehyung happy, he wanted to see the other happy with him much more.

“Okay, let’s go to bed then,” he said and resumed to get up again, but this time with the elder.

"You should switch on the heaters; it's cold in here," Taehyung told him as they walked to his bedroom.

"Sorry, I forgot," the younger replied. The truth was that the heaters had been on this whole time and Jungkook was beginning to feel too hot through his t-shirt.

But all in all, he believed it could have gone worse.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know who actually listened to the song rec, but as soon as you heard the first few verses you understood why I had to recommend the song for this chap or this fic in general. I don't know whether you enjoyed reading this chap as much as I enjoyed writing and discussing it with Jacks, but let me know your thoughts. What was your favourite scene(s)? What did/didn't you like in the chap? Who do you think is blackmailing Yongsun; is Tae telling the truth? Who do you think is more scheming; Jimin, Taehyung or Hyejin? Why isn't Jungkook addressing Tae on Yongsun? Should Wheein give up on Bogum? Is Yoonmin back together? Who is part of the inner circle? kudos would be lovely, until next chap^_^


	8. Knowing Too Much Can Get You In Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An early Christmas present^_^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess, who managed to get a breather? Not me xD This chap has been sitting in my draft for over a month now ... I think. The reason why I decided to post it? Cos, I've been buried under Uni assignments. Please, tell me why I thought, choosing political science as a major was a good idea? And also because my beta, Livelydinosaurrawr did her magic again and I figured if not today then when?? Just so you know, I'm running under 20hrs of sleep since Friday, so in case there are a few mistakes that I missed, please point it out. Also, I plan to continue working on my other fics, but they're all still incomplete, so be patient with me.  
> On that note, ENJOY^^

ps: checkout [Livelydinosaurrawr](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Livelydinosaurrawr/pseuds/Livelydinosaurrawr) 's [work](https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view_author_stories/1053472/L)s. She writes better than me, I promise^_^

* * *

“Just because attendance does not affect your grades, it does not mean that you and Jeon Jungkook can skip,” Yongsun said, handing the peach haired male his topic for their next project on a sheet of paper. He only glanced at it long enough to know that he and Jungkook were assigned to use abstract art; tell a story through abstract art as part of their partner exam. He guessed it was better than primitivism— Lord knows he would have struggled there. What he also didn't understand was why she was going out of her to meet him and hadn't just mailed him the information. 

He looked back at her as he folded the sheet of paper in half and put it away in his bag. “You call him ‘Jeon Jungkook’ in public but we both know behind doors it’s Jungkook,” he pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Or even Mr. Jeon, because for all we know you might have a kink for hooking up with your students and calling them by their last names,” he leaned forward and rested his chin on top of his intertwined fingers, a smirk covering his features. “Really get to act out the student-teacher role.”

Yongsun took a deep breath, lips pressed together as she tried to control her emotion. She pulled out a second sheet of paper from her file and placed it in front of him on the desk, unlike the last time she had shoved it aggressively at his face. 

Just like the last time, he looked at her with amusement and boredom at the same time, not attempting to read the letter. 

“Read it!” she hissed through clenched teeth.

He scoffed, but lowered his gaze to read the letter, head resting leisurely on the palm of his hand.

“You’re going to resign; I hope you don’t expect a thank you from me nor a goodbye party,” he said, looking back at her unimpressed.

“I didn’t write that,” she nodded her head at the letter. He also looked back, eyes stopping where her signature and family seal laid atop the date. It was definitely her signature and seal— the male knew so because he had looked up her files a while back. 

“But you think I wrote it,” Taehyung retorted, a yawn escaping his mouth. Yongsun’s eye twitched at the rudeness, but the male didn’t show any remorse. 

“You wrote the last one,” she argued pointedly.

He closed his eyes and took a dramatic inhale not to roll them in front of her. The first letter Yongsun got, the one that had made her flip out on the male was a confession of her cheating and wanting to call off the wedding addressed to her fiance. It had only contained her signature. Her first instinct was to confront the sender which had been Kim Taehyung or so she’d thought, but the male kept denying it, although she didn’t get a second letter or hear anything weird after their talk as the male had been avoiding her all this time. She’d also tried her best to stay away from Jungkook which shouldn’t have been too hard since the latter stopped attending her lessons, but instead, he came whenever she was on break, never stayed too long for it to look suspicious but long enough for him to achieve whatever he wanted—what did he want from her?

She’d completely forgotten about the first letter after Jungkook had assured her that he’d take care of it. Which is why it came as a surprise when the second letter arrived. This time  
with a second letter inside the envelope addressed to the adjunct professor telling her to stop messing around with her students or else next time both letters will end up to their rightful recipients.

“Why would I waste my time writing a letter when I can tell you face-to-face to get lost?” the male asked her, pushing both letters back to her, face amused as he regarded her.   
“I think I’ve been too nice lately. Whoever sent you the letters is telling you to stop getting involved with Kookie,” he nodded casually at the letters. “But I want you out of the school or even out of town for all that matters,” the smirk slipped off his face, followed by a purse of his lips, left eyebrow raising slightly.

She opened her mouth to retort, but nothing came out. She watched him stare at her with the patience of an adult watching a petulant child as if deciding on how to scold her so she’d think twice before doing the same mistake again next time. 

“How are you going to get rid of me? Offer me money like in the dramas or spread rumors about me if I don’t take the money and leave?” she demanded, hands crossing over her chest, lips pressing together as she glared at him, trying to ignore the warning signals in the air or the way her stomach was doing flips. 

He smiled as if seeing through her, but his eyes remained emotionless. “I’ll ignore the fact that you call your cheating rumors,” he giggled amusedly but sobered up; eyes wandering around the atelier lazily and then back to her with more interest than before. “I think you misunderstood something. You don’t really have a say here. This resignation letter—” he pointed at the letter on the table. “Is legit. No need to type up something else, just hand it in as it is. I was reliant on you because I overestimated you; thought you had enough sense to stop, but in the end, I had to intervene. Pack your bags, Kim Yongsun, because this is probably your last month at this school,” he stood to leave.

“He won’t forgive you for this,” she murmured instead, voice too emotional for her liking, eyes stinging from unshed tears; maybe because she was upset or in fear.

He looked at her contemplatively and mused. “You know, you’re not the first person who’s said that. They all did, every time, but at the end of the day he always comes back to me no matter what.”

Her hands tightened into fists beside her body. “He’s changed. What if he doesn’t come back this time?” She had the audacity to sound corky.

He blinked at her as if she’d asked something absurd and it may have been absurd to anyone that knew Taehyung and Jungkook’s relationship, but she didn’t know them. He pursed his lips and cocked his head as if he was really thinking over her question and then looked at her with a condescending smile. “I really can’t see anything special about you that would make him keep his distance from me.” Yes, Jungkook might get mad but he won’t be angry for a long time. 

Yongsun, bit onto her quivering lower lip, face turning pink, indicating her anger and distress of finally realizing the seriousness of the situation— her hands were already shaking by her side.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get a position at another good school, just don’t get tempted this time and actually teach,” he gave her a tight smile before turning around to leave the atelier. 

“If he loves you as much as you claim then why are you so insecure and out here scaring people away from him?”

He halted in his tracks, tilted his head sideways and let his gaze linger on her shining eyes for a few seconds longer. “You are confusing not liking and sharing with insecurity. You should have realized it the first time we met.” He turned his head back to the front and proceeded to walk away without looking back.

  
+

Jimin tapped his foot along a silent beat inside his head while he scrolled onto his phone at nothing in particular. He was just distracting himself—trying not to think about the fact that he had lost the hearing in his mock trial and how his father was probably going to hear of it and give him shit for it. It wasn’t like the case had been hard; it had been about domestic violence. Domestic violence where the man happened to be innocent and had Jimin checked all of the documents beforehand and given his all, then he would have realized that some of the given evidence were flawed; deliberately forged to throw him off and test his thoroughness, but he hadn’t noticed of course. 

Surprisingly, he wasn’t freaking out that he had lost the case, but more dreading having to listen to his father tell him what a failure he once again was; how much he was disgracing their family. These were words he’s heard a thousand times and he was immune to them, but there were times when he’d feel vulnerable and let his father’s words get to him. Usually, those were times when he and Yoongi weren’t doing so well or when school wasn’t working out. That was when he wasn’t feeling so well in general which has been often lately.

For some reason all of his negative thoughts figured it was the perfect time to attack him at once, to keep him awake every night and forcing him into a corner until he reaches out for a bottle every time so he wouldn’t feel or think too much. It was probably the reason why he’d lost the trial. He’d been clubbing the nights before and had only glanced at the reports this morning after nursing a terrible hangover.

Still, he would take the hangover over being sober any day. Being sober was terrible. It made one remember all their ‘wrong choices’, their ‘what ifs’ and their ‘nevers’. Like how he’d chosen to continue hooking up with Yoongi two weeks later despite breaking up with him, how he wondered what his life would be if he had not chosen Yoongi over everything else every time or the fact that he would never get to know the answer to that.

He also wondered why he kept on hooking up with his ex every time they broke up—they saw each other more during their break up than when they dated. The point of the break up was to end things, but for some reason, Jimin had gone back to him—not to ask him to take him back but asked him for comfort. After the dinner with his parents and the Kims there had only been one person the black haired male could think of and that had been Yoongi. He hadn’t seemed surprised to see Jimin show up at his studio that late at night—it was almost like he had expected him to because Jimin always went to him after the annual dinners.

Yoongi had let him rant as much as he wanted and then Jimin had kissed him and Yoongi had let him and then one thing led to another and the next thing he knew he was messaging his ex during the day for a fix-up. They hadn’t talked about it — they never talk about it, but it was some unspoken rule that they somehow got back together right after.                          

However, Jimin wasn’t sure how things were going to end up. He was the one who had broken up with the elder, but he was also the one who had gone to him the first time and the one who kept on initiating their hookups.                                                                                     

He didn’t know how Yoongi felt or what he thought of everything. He also wasn’t sure whether they were moving towards getting back together because they hadn’t resolved anything other than their physical desires. 

Something sliding on the table startled him and he caught himself before he could let out a yelp. He realized it was the cup of coffee and to go bagels he had ordered a few minutes ago.

Locking his phone and looking up he was met with a guy smiling down at him. He quirked his eyebrows, head tilting to the side. “Yes?” he demanded.

“Your order is ready,” the guy pushed the takeaway paper bag in his direction as if it wasn’t obvious enough. His voice wasn’t deep, but again his features didn’t indicate so. He had soft features, almost girly like in some cases, but he also managed to look manly, he was short, but definitely taller than Jimin, though slimmer, the black haired male noticed.

What he also noticed was the smile on the guy’s face, innocent and sincere and it sparked something unfamiliar in him. 

He pocketed his phone and stood, grabbed his food, but then he noticed something. “What is that?” he asked, nodding at the writing on the cup of coffee. 

The guy wrinkled his nose sheepishly, a shy smile gracing his pretty features, slim muscular arms raising to run through his dirty blonde locks—yes, Jimin wasn’t blind, the guy was totally a catch. “It’s my number,” he cleared his throat, eyes darting around the cafe.

Jimin’s eyebrows rose higher than before, mouth opening to ask him why he was giving him his number, but then it dawned on him. “Are you hitting on me?” he demanded, a glare unconsciously taking over his features.

He saw how the guy’s face became alert, hands shooting out to apologize and that’s when he realized how he’d probably sounded. He was still cranky and probably not trying to be nice and this pretty boy was getting the end of it—he wished he had the heart to feel bad about it, but he didn’t.

“I—yes—but...you don’t have to? I mean, you don’t have to call me if you don’t want to,” the guy stammered.

Jimin regarded the name and phone number on the cup and then the guy. “How do you know that I like guys, Taemin-sshi?” he demanded. 

It wasn’t like he was ashamed of his preference, but he always wondered how people figured out the other’s preference. How did they approach people and ask them out? Jimin’s never had to do that—not exactly. 

_Back then it had been Taehyung who had introduced Jimin to his ex, not that the black haired male hadn’t known who Min Yoongi was, but they’d been running in different circles and the elder male was a few years older than them.  
Jimin had grown up hearing his parents (his father) mentioning and calling the Mins all sorts of things; criticising everything about them, even the way Yoongi’s family dog breathed (Jimin’s father was weird) and so it had not been a surprise that his parents had made him forge contacts with every eligible child but Min Yoongi and his sister (and their cousins, but details). _

_Jimin wasn’t allowed to speak, look or go near the Min siblings. There were a few times in the past when his parents and the Mins ended up sitting at the same table during events and his parents would try to pretend like they didn’t have anything against the Mins, but it was impossible not to note the tension around them._

_Of course, as a child, Jimin hadn’t understood why his parents disliked the Mins so much. He would ask his mother, but all she’d say was that it goes way back into the past. Both families having different political views and never having the same thoughts or finding a middle ground (later he found out that the dislike was one-sided)._

_His mother had told him that he didn’t like how Yoongi’s parents had raised them, gave them too much freedom and no rules which was why they weren’t well mannered (based on Jimin’s parents), which was why Jimin had stayed away from Min Yoongi as a child, never understood why Taehyung’s mother would let him get acquainted with them._

_Jimin would always refuse to go along whenever Taehyung invited him to hang out with Min Yoongi and his friends because the elder male would taint his reputation, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious every time and didn’t listen attentively whenever his friend would retell what he did with Min Yoongi. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t get disappointed when Taehyung stopped inviting him to come along because he knew he’d say no. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t get jealous whenever Taehyung was talking and laughing with Min Yoongi in public and he had to act like he didn’t want to be part of the picture, but just because he had been curious didn’t mean he had given in._

Taemin bit his lower lip, contemplating his answer. “You come here almost every night right before closing time,” he gestured at the almost empty cafe but continued when Jimin didn’t respond or soften his expression. “Also, you came here with one of your friends...they both ordered while you found a seat and they were kinda discussing how down you probably were after breaking up with your boyfriend,” this time their eyes met and Jimin’s glare intensified more. The guy wasn’t looking at him with pity or curiosity like others did, but he was looking at him with understanding. As if he understood something about Jimin that he didn’t himself.

Also, his eyes were pretty; pretty and honest and warm and made the black haired male want to stare more at them. He looked away, eyes settling on the pair of earrings on the waiter’s right ear.

“And that made you give me your number?” he asked instead, a smirk forming on his face. It was better than showing a total stranger how overwhelmed he was. 

Taemin shook his head. “No, but you’ve been here every night during my shift and I figured you might need someone to talk to,” he shook his head when he noticed Jimin purse his lips. 

“No, what I meant is that sometimes it’s better talking to a stranger than to people you know and plus you’re cute,” he added with a cheeky smile, hand going back to scratch at his neck.

_“You’re that Park boy. Do your parents know you’re here?”_

_Jimin had narrowed his eyes and scrunched his nose. “Min Yoongi,” he had muttered as an acknowledgment. Taehyung had rolled his eyes at his friend knowing exactly well it was going to play out._

_“It’s Hyung,” the elder male had corrected amusedly, a playful smirk on his face._

_“I don’t think we’re close enough for me to call you that,” Jimin had said, nose raised in the air._

_At that Yoongi had laughed. Loud and heartily, gummies showing. “You were right, Tae, he’s cute.”_

Jimin scoffed. “And here I was thinking you were hitting on me,” he regarded the coffee cup this time with distaste, disregarding the compliment.

“I was...somehow,” Taemin reassured him. “But I wanted to let you know that you don’t have to call my number if you’re not ready to start seeing someone. Your friends mentioned that it had been a longterm relationship. Just in case you feel like talking or doing something fun.”

“You know too much for someone who doesn’t know me,” Jimin mussed, eyes sharp when they looked back at the guy.

Taemin just shrugged. “Sometimes it’s not so bad having someone else knowing too much about you.”

“Knowing too much can get you in trouble, Taemin-sshi,” he didn’t mean it to come out as patronizing, but it did. He saw how Taemin’s expression fell, but he masked it fast. 

Jimin picked up his paper bag and sighed. “Thank you very much Taemin-sshi, but I don’t need new friends,” he was already trying to get rid of his old ones, he didn’t need more lurking out of the woodwork. He didn’t let the waiter respond before walking off into the cold night. Taemin didn’t have to know that he would be dumping the coffee cup in the next dumpster—after all, he could have left it on the table, but Jimin wanted to be nice for once.

_“We’ve been running into each other way too many times for it to be a coincidence, Park. Are you stalking me?”_

_“I have better things to do,” Jimin had scoffed, trying to sound and look unbothered. He wouldn’t call it stalking but he had been keeping tabs on Min Yoongi with the excuse of making sure he wasn’t a bad person._

_To his surprise, the elder male had just nodded as if not believing him. He had looked around and then back at him. “I was going to grab a snack, want to come along?”_

_“Why?” He’d demanded defensively, heart racing uncontrollably.  
Yoongi had laughed. “Okay, you need to chill, Park. I was just being nice.”_

_“And I just wanted to know why you’d think I’d want to grab a snack with you.”_

_Yoongi had looked at him with a blank face for a few seconds and then he had laughed._

_“Shit. You’re serious. Wow. I heard stuff about you, but I didn’t think—,” he shook his head._

_Jimin’s eyes had narrowed at that. A small part of him feeling attacked and the other weird.  
“You don’t know shit about me,” he had hissed._

_Yoongi had sighed. “Listen, Park, I don’t know in what dark twisted world you live in, but where I come from something like that is called human courtesy.” The elder had turned around and headed down the street. “Have a good day!”_

_Jimin had been left feeling like he had done something bad although that was no different than his usual behavior._

  
+

  
“For the fifth time, I’m not hungry. I already had dinner,” Hyejin sighed as Bogum dropped a plastic bag of arugula into the cart she was pushing. 

“What is that?” she stopped and frowned at the dark green leaves. 

“Arugula, it’s low fat and has lots of vitamins,” he answered before walking away again to go find whatever healthy shit he thought she needed. 

They’d been there for fifteen minutes, strolling through the aisles of the not crowded high-end grocery store, Bogum picking up things and Hyejin putting them back on the rack. She didn’t even know why she was grocery shopping after midnight. 

_When her ex-had shown up after her practice at the agency and had announced they were going to have dinner she’d expected him to take her to one of their usual places which would have been fine considering how casual she was dressed. However, Bogum had driven the car in a different direction and it had taken her a few minutes to realize where they were heading._

_“I know you skipped lunch and only had a small snack for dinner,” he’d pulled into the underground parking lot and grabbed a black hoodie from the back seat and handed it to her to put on since she was dressed too lightly— only in wide-legged track pants and a tank top that showed a bit too much cleavage for his liking._

_“And yes I know about the new diet, your manager already briefed me on it,” he’d added when she’d opened her mouth to reiterate. She’d wanted to correct him and tell him that it was probably Taehyung who had snitched, but whatever. It wasn’t like he didn’t know she was dieting._

_So instead she accepted the hoodie, shrugged it on and then turned her full body to him. He’d packed facing the wall and the car’s windows were tainted dark, so she didn’t have to worry about the paparazzi. Not that it was easy getting into the mall. Only members of the stores in the mall were allowed to enter, meaning you needed your membership card in order to enter the building as a customer which was why it was a very popular place for celebrities or any affluent people to meet there. They could walk around without fear of being followed or watched._

_They could meet whoever they wanted without fearing the information getting out — it had happened before, but it’s only been a few times. All in all, It was a safe haven for anyone who wanted to live a somewhat normal life but keep away from the public. It was a sanctuary for the rich and famous, but Hyejin’s sanctuary was not there in the high-end mall, rather with a boy that has been looking at her with the same fondness ever since they’d met years ago._

_“I didn’t skip lunch, I had a chicken wrap and a fruit salad a while ago,” she’d defended herself, well aware that her argument spoke against her._

_She knew the new diet wasn’t healthy but she had to lose weight. She couldn’t afford to gain more, at least not in this industry. The public could be nasty and hurtful, especially to someone who didn’t meet their ‘norm’. He of all people knew how much it had affected her over the years._

_He’d reached out, both of his hands cupping her face to tilt her head so she was looking at him in the eye. “Hyejin-ah,” he’d stroked her cheek with his thumb, round puppy eyes looked down at her warmly. “I know you ate something, but I was at your home and your fridge is empty and—”_

_“I feel like you’re guilt tripping me,” she said, voice slightly irate as she tried to look away, but he prevented her._

_He turned his whole body so he could look at her properly. “That’s not it and you know that,” he assured her, she could hear the sincerity in his voice and it made her feel slightly bad. As much as insensitive as she came off, she was_ _sensitive as_ _shit and she hated it. She hated how fast things could get to her and she’d automatically turn mean and bite back._

_He’d closed his eyes for a few seconds as if trying to sort his thoughts and she’d watched him with bated breath. “What I’m saying is that your fridge needs more things other than bananas, kiwis, and tofu,” he’d told her, voice calm, eyes searching her face; trying to convey something to her._

_She’d felt ambushed. Not because her face was literally captured between his palms but because she knew he was right and because she knew he was calling her out. She’d felt ambushed because he knew more than what he should and it was making her anxious. Always has. She didn’t know when it had happened, but at some point, she’d realized that Bogum had learned her quirks and wasn’t in her palm as he used to be when they were younger._

_Not wanting him to bring up the last time she’d gone on a crazy diet and had nearly gotten herself hospitalized, she’d rolled her eyes and sighed resignedly. “Fine.”_

_“We’ll only get healthy food, I promise,” he’d beamed at her and leaned over to place a peck on her temple, then opened the car door and stepped out._

_He hadn’t noticed how surprised she’d been or how her cheeks had warmed up and a pink shade had covered her cheeks._ _They weren’t dating anymore, so he wasn’t supposed to give her random pecks—albeit she’d kissed him the night before while saying goodbye, but it had been a subconscious action; her body acting without her brain’s consent, so maybe this was also a subconscious action—so was the hand holding and the cuddling._

 “I know you said healthy, but that shit looks like grass,” she told him, a grimace on her face as she examined the leaves. He looked down into the cart full of cabbage, packets of rice, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, kale, cauliflower, lemons, carrots, fish and other weird things she didn’t remember putting into the cart. It was all green and disgusting. 

They both looked up from the contents of the cart. “I might have gone overboard,” he wrinkled his nose sheepishly.

She demonstrated at the cart with her hand dramatically, pulling a mocking face.

“I’ll get you some meat … or chicken,” he grinned coyly, eyes darting around the aisles looking for a sign for the said food. 

“Or chicken,” she mimicked him, voice deep but goofy nevertheless. 

He looked back at her, lips pressing together and a pout forming. Her heart shouldn’t have started to beat this fast. She shouldn’t have reached out to run a hand through his hair and called him ‘cute’ because they both knew where it would lead, but she did.

She always acted against her will whenever he’d go from this cool- intellectual-put together-Oppa to the shy, dorky but playful boy she’s known ever since they were kids.

Having a very strict mother that put their family image as a priority, Bogum had to grow up under his mother’s eye, doing everything right not to ruin their family image. The perfect image his mother had put up, so as a child, he and his siblings had grown up with many restrictions and regulations unlike Taehyung or Hyejin herself.

They were opposites, but were also similar in some ways, like day and night; they shouldn’t have been together, but something about Hyejin had drawn Bogum to her. She was interesting, outspoken, witty, perceptive and was exciting to be around. Her personality spoke confidence and assertiveness; she wasn’t the friendliest person and nor did she pretend to be. She was herself which had intimidated him in the beginning, but it was what he liked most about her; she was someone who his mother would not approve of but someone she wouldn’t walk all over.

He couldn’t help leaning into her touch, wanting her hand to remain a few seconds longer into his hair, her long nails to scratch along his scalp; tempt him to put a hand around her waist and pull her closer, maybe he would have kissed her, maybe he would have just held her right there, but she pulled away too quickly.

“Stop,” he heard her say and his eyes opened without being aware he’d closed them in the first place. 

He blinked at her, eyes searching her face trying to see whether he did something wrong. Half of her lower lip was caught between her teeth, her breathing was coming out heavily. “Stop looking at me like that;” she finally prompted, gesturing her hand at his face. “Making me regret us breaking up.” She quickly turned around to grab something off the rack from behind her so he wouldn’t see her expression. “You have a girlfriend,” she reminded, adding the new item to the cart and avoiding his gaze.

“I don’t,” was his rapid response.

Her eyebrows rose curiously. “You don’t?” 

He considered lying to see her reaction, but he’s never been good at lying to her, so he shook his head. “We broke up a while back.” I broke up with her when I heard you’ll be back, is what he didn’t tell her.

She pretended the news didn’t make her happy. She also pretended she was just curious, turning back around to examine the sauce ingredients on the rack when she asked. “Why did you break up?”  ~~Is it because of me?~~

 ~~When has it never been because of you?~~  “It just wasn’t working out.”  _She wasn’t you._

She turned back around with a packet of mushroom sauce, shook it before his face and threw it into the cart when he nodded. “Don’t worry, you’ll find someone. Or maybe you already did and don’t know it yet,” at this he piqued up, face lightening and invisible tail wagging back and forth. “For all, we know Lamein could be it,” she said nonchalantly.

“Wheein,” he corrected and tried to keep the disapproval from his voice and face, but failed. 

Of course, it didn’t go unnoticed, but she didn’t show any reaction apart from a scoff and resumed walking again as he now took care of pushing the cart following her. However, what she did miss was the disappointment on his face.

“It’s what I said.”

“No, you called her…” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to remind himself to keep his voice low. There weren’t many people here and they were practically alone in the aisle, but one never knew, plus he didn’t like using the nickname they used for Wheein.

Hyejin and Jimin had come up with the nickname in middle school, none of the two admitting who exactly and had been using it throughout the years, even went as far as addressing the said person with the name. It was mean and rude and so very typical of Hyejin and Jimin and every time he’d hear the nickname, he’d cringe.

“You called her Lamein!” he hissed, eyes darting around to make sure no one was around.   
Hyejin halted in her steps, head tilting to the side to glance at him as she spoke. “That’s because it’s her name."

“No, it's not. It's rude and tacky as fuck!” he exclaimed a little too defensively. 

He noticed how irritated she was, by the way, her breathing started coming out more controlled and her lips pursed. She also had this habit of tapping her index finger onto her thumb as if she were counting inside her head. 

"Well, that coconut haircut you had during senior year in high school was tacky, but you didn't hear me complaining," she finally said dismissively.

He rolled his eyes. Of course, she wouldn't miss a chance for a comeback. "Are we really doing this?" All he wanted was to buy her food and cook for her tonight. Nothing more and nothing less.

“Are you really going to defend one of your fucks in front of me?” She raised her eyebrow challengingly, voice dropping lower.

That was a low blow. She knew he couldn’t say anything after that. It was not a secret between them that he has slept with Wheein a few times, but she never brought it up, unless they were fighting. She didn’t say it, but he knew she didn’t like the fact that Wheein was the first person he went to whenever things went left between them. She didn’t like Wheein because it was natural not to like the girl that was sleeping with your on and off boyfriend.

Maybe in another world, the two would have gotten along pretty well. Or maybe if Hyejin gave Wheein a chance and stopped being petty she’d see how much they had in common.

“She’s my friend,” he replied, trying to reason with her.

Her lips pulled into a cynical smirk. “Oh, so outside of the bed she’s your friend and inside your sex toy?” 

His eyes narrowed at her. Fists clenched onto the handles on the cart as he tried to control himself. Wheein was a sensitive topic between them— only for Hyejin. She acted like the girl did something horrendous to her.

“That’s my friend you’re insulting, Hyejin-ah,” he warned, voice stern. 

“What? Did I say something wrong?’” she inquired, cocking her head to the side. “You guys are friends, but you also fuck on occasion which makes you friends with benefit,” she deadpanned. 

He stood there staring at her blank face, thoughts running through his mind. Finally, he sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. “I’ll go get you that chicken,” and turned the cart around to go look for the said poultry.

She glared at his back, fists balled at her sides trying to keep her emotions in check. She was not angry that he didn’t deny her accusation, maybe just disappointed and a little mad because although she claimed not to be hungry, she was starving but looking in the mirror and seeing how thick her thighs have gotten made her not want to look at herself and she liked looking at herself. 

She was also salty over the fact that Wheein was his first. It was not easy to forget your firsts because they claim a specific memory and status within your life by default. Everything else that comes after your first is a competition; either better or worse.

+

  
“What are you doing?” Yoongi asked his mother, stopping at the entrance of his parents' bedroom, something invisible stopping him from entering the room. It was uncomfortable and suffocating, choking him and jabbing at his chest with force. It took a lot of control not to turn around and go back to his room.

His mother didn’t answer. Instead, she continued on what she was doing, pulling clothes from the small suitcase and dumping them into a basket, careful making sure the whites landed in another basket. 

Yoongi took a deep breath trying to will his anger down. “Why are you doing his laundry?” he hissed, trying not to snap at his mother. 

“You know your father is sensitive, I have to make sure his clothes are washed properly.” What she meant to say was she had to make sure that he hadn’t lied to her. That he hadn’t been to some hotel with another woman.

Though his father had promised his mother that he’d stop sleeping around and she’d taken him back she still didn’t trust him. Yoongi watched how her hands slipped through the trouser pockets with practice experience and then toss the pants into one of the baskets.

They both knew the maids were going to do the laundry.

“Why did you take him back if you couldn’t trust him again?” he asked, leaning on the frame. The room had a lingering echo of her cries. He was reminded when she’d lock herself in their bedroom and cry the whole night, thrashing things in their bedroom while he sat outside and waited for her to open the door or one of the maids to bring a spare key.

He was reminded when she’d come to breakfast with half-assed concealer to hide her swollen eyes and dark rings; how she’d sneakily mix her drink with alcohol.   
He was reminded how he had to be strong for his little sister and explain to her that their mom was just ill and she was going to get better, but she didn’t. Instead, she stopped pretending that everything was alright and didn’t give a damn about how swollen her eyes were or how dark the rings around her eyes were; she stopped sneaking her drinking and arrived with a wine bottle at breakfast.  
When DoHee got older, Yoongie couldn’t lie to his sister anymore. She wasn’t stupid; she’d found out about their father having another family— courtesy of their mum telling them that they had a half younger brother. Their father had gone off and gotten a child with another woman that wasn’t their mother. 

That had been eleven years ago; their half-brother, Jihoon, must be sixteen or turning sixteen. She was probably looking for receipts to see what their father had gotten his other son for his birthday. They both knew he hadn’t been on some business trip but with his other family.

Yoongi just didn’t understand why their mother couldn’t divorce him and kick their father out of their life for good. Lord knows, he wouldn’t miss his pathetic ass.

“He promised me that he’s changed. He wants us to be a family again,” she responded, eyes downcast. He was glad, he didn’t want her to see how mad he was. 

“Not because he wants to become Speaker of the National Assembly by falling back into grandfather’s good grace?” he didn’t make an effort to suppress the sarcasm in his voice.

His mother’s head shot up, a glare pointed at him. His mother was soft; all feminine and petite and had one of the warmest features he’s ever seen, but at that moment she wasn’t happy with him and he could tell with how her soft features struggled to keep their composure. 

FUCK. He had not meant to hurt her. She was the last person he wanted to see hurt. Ever.

He took a deep breath and entered the room, feet carrying him to kneel at the feet of his mother. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” he clasped one of her small hands into his. His mother looked down at him, a slight pout on her face, her tiny eyes blinking at his face.

_I didn’t mean you are aren’t good enough. I didn’t mean that you couldn’t get him back if you wanted. It’s just that he doesn’t deserve you. He doesn’t deserve your love or trust._

“Mum,” he whispered when she didn’t answer. “I’m—”

“I’m the one who should be apologizing,” she murmured, one of her hands slipping from his grasp to rest on his cheek warmly. He tried not to lean in but couldn’t help it when her thumb started to stroke under his eye. 

“I’ve been so caught up with your father that I forgot to ask how you were doing. How are you coping with the breakup?” she asked. If Yoongi was mad before then now he’s just filled with something close to nostalgia. 

“I don’t know yet,” he answered. He hadn’t allowed himself to think about the fact that Jimin and he were no longer an item. What he had allowed himself to do was hook up with his ex again and again with the promise of it being the last time.

“Do you want to talk about it? It’s not good to keep it all in,” she said. 

He wanted to point out that they both knew from experience, but he just shook his head. “You’ll be the first person I’ll come to if I want to talk,” he answered. 

Although their mother had been drunk most of their childhood; she’d tried to be involved with their lives as much as the alcohol could allow her. On the days where she wasn’t completely intoxicated, Yoongi would seek her out for advice—one would advise you from seeking advice from a drunk, but he had wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, plus her advice hadn’t been bad most of the time. He’s also glad because he’d come out to her while she was drunk a few times and she kept forgetting until he’d brought his boyfriend—not Jimin—over and she’d caught them kissing, but she hadn’t freaked out. She’d mumbled something about having a gut feeling that he liked boys.

She sighed. “It doesn’t have to be about the breakup. You can talk to me about anything. How is school?”

Of course, it didn’t make up for the fact that as much as she had tried, she’d also failed, miserably. So miserably that Yoongi had had to be the parent for his sister and him. It was her inability to let go of their pathetic excuse of a father and take care of her kids that Yoongi had ended up messing up at school and getting held back a semester, but he’ll never say it out loud.

Their mother had realized she was a mother after Yoongi had moved out and DoHee had decided to finish school abroad. His sister practically ran away. He realized too late that he should have gone with her or never have moved out before she’d finished high school, but he’d been desperate to escape at that time. Desperate to escape his mother’s alcoholism, his father’s unashamed behavior, and Jimin’s surveillance. It got too much at some point. Jimin stopped being his go-to place and ended up setting alarm bells in his head.

“School is school, mum,” he mumbled, nose scrunching up to show his distaste for the subject.

She cooed at him and laughed. “Just bite your teeth together and the year will be over faster than you know it!” she ruffled his hair and pinched his cheek when he tried to tell her that he was a grown man and she shouldn’t be treating him like a kid. Despite complaining, he couldn’t help grinning up at his mother when she stared down at him with soft eyes and a heartily laugh. He needed his mother’s touch and laugh to get him out of the slump he felt captured in because as much as she upset him, she was also one of the few people who could genuinely make him happy without expecting anything in return.

  
+

  
“I still feel gross,” Taehyung muttered, but still clung to the body under him; right leg slung over the younger’s torso, right above the younger’s hip bone—they were only clad in boxers,- one arm propped under his head as a pillow while his other hand drew invisible patterns on Jungkook’s muscular stomach upwards, leaving goosebumps and heat in their wake.

“That’s because we were gross,” the younger muttered but made no indication to separate. Instead, he shifted so that he was lying sideways, facing the peach haired male and leaned in to steal a kiss; slow, tender and innocent, because he felt like they hadn’t kissed enough earlier. They’d been rushing (Taehyung was rushing) and too horny to enjoy the moment, but now that they had taken a shower and come down from their high, all he wanted was to make up for the lost kisses and touches.

Taehyung kissed him back just as slow, letting the younger cup his face to direct his head so they could kiss even deeper at the angel. Jungkook should have been used to it, but every time he kissed the elder, it felt like the first time; he was excited and scared at the same time. He felt his stomach lurch and toes curl as if he was riding the scariest ride at an amusement park but at the same time, he felt grounded, warm and safe. He felt like he was taking a warm bath after a long day; his body rejoicing to the warm electricity that circuited through his body; making his heart dance at a happy tune. Kissing Taehyung felt like meditating; as if he were in sync with his inner peace.

He tried to pull away for air, but Taehyung pulled him back in. capturing his face and molding their lips back together. A content sigh left the elder’s mouth, thigh climbing higher as he tried to get even closer. The elder’s tongue darted out to coax his mouth to open and he obligated only to wrestle the elder until he slowed down the pace. Jungkook’s hands slid down the peach haired male’s body, fingers caressing his sides and hands trying to keep the elder male from grinding too hard into him.

“Can we go again?” he heard his Hyung ask between kisses. The peach haired male trailed kisses down his neck and along his shoulder and bit down right under his collarbone. Jungkook shivered and a low moan left his mouth, hands doing their best not to squeeze too hard or flip them over. 

It took the younger a second to decide. “I just want to keep on kissing like this,” for a moment he thought he saw how the elder’s expression fell, but then the lust filled look returned.

“I was going to let you top this time,” he quirked his brows at the younger suggestively, but Jungkook shook his head. 

“We can do that some other time. I just want to kiss you some more,” he muttered, lifting his head to meet the elder into a kiss, but Taehyung pulled away.

“Kiss me or just kiss in general?” he asked, hand going back to the younger’s chest to trace in patterns, brown almond eyes staring at him mischievously.

The thing about Taehyung was that he liked playing games. He liked quizzing people and treated them based on whether they passed his little games or failed, but Jungkook didn’t like participating and elder knew that, but that has never stopped him from trying.

“I want to kiss, not everything is about sex, you know,” he sighed but regretted it as soon as it left his lips and the elder’s expression hardened. His fingers stilled on the younger’s chest and he could see his pupils wavering. 

The old Taehyung would have made a snarky retort to that, but he didn’t. His body went rigid and tense. His breathing slowed and a blank mask slipped onto his face.

“Hyung….I’m...I didn’t—” he tried, but Taehyung cut him off.

“You don’t have to apologize for anything,” he told him, voice cold and distant. Though he remained on top of him, his whole body was tense, the thigh above the younger's torso suddenly felt too heavy and too hot.

“What I meant was that I just want to keep on kissing you and enjoy the moment,” Jungkook tried to reason.

“What about what I want?” the elder asked. The thing about Taehyung’s games is that there was no winner, you were set to lose by default.

He reached out his hand to swipe the elder’s fringe out of his eyes and sighed. “I want whatever you want, you know that,” he told him, hand moving to the leg around his torso and up to his thigh as he caressed it softly, a gesture of comfort.

Taehyung pursed his lips, forcing himself not to pout and the younger had to force himself not to peck the pout away. “This is the part where you blush and giggle,” he joked hoping to distract him or even ease the tension.

“I’m not a  _girl_ , Jungkook, and it can’t always be about enjoying  _the moment_ ,” came the tight response instead. 

There had been many incidents where Jungkook wanted to do something for fun and Taehyung didn’t mind, but a part of him couldn’t help thinking that the younger only saw their relationship, whatever it was, as something casual, something fun to kill time with and didn’t think much of it. He knew that he wasn't just some fuck buddy to the younger. Jungkook would take a bullet for him without a second thought, but he didn’t want that. He didn’t want Jungkook doing and saying things to appease the elder out of natural instinct.

And the fact that the younger hasn’t really been with another guy other than Taehyung, worried him because he didn’t want Jungkook confusing loving him with being in love.  It was why he kept on reminding him that he was not a girl; that there were certain things he would not get from his Hyung whereas a girl would be able to provide. Checking and making sure that the younger male was well aware of what he was doing and not just enjoying the moment. 

Jungkook tried not to roll his eyes sensing direction the conversation was heading. He guessed the topic would have come up eventually. He’d just hoped that Taehyung would hold it off for a little longer. But then again he assumed it has been long enough for his Hyung. 

The elder had given him a whole week which was long enough if past events were to go by.

 _Last week they’d run into Jeonhang outside their school and Jungkook had introduced the longhaired exchange student to his Hyung. It had only taken a few seconds for the peach haired male to realize who Jeonhang was; he was the guy Jungkook had experimented on while the elder was away. The exchange student had seemed to be on the softer side; he had a very pretty face that could rival a girl’s own and had really nice long hair—Jungkook loved that shit. The younger male liked pulling hair or just running his hands through them on occasion. Taehyung could picture it and he wouldn’t say he liked the image. Also, Jeonhang was into photography and the typical mainstream shit Jungkook pretended to hate but secretly liked; it made sense to Taehyung that Jungkook would go for someone like Jeonhang to figure out whether he really liked guys or if it was only Taehyung he liked regardless of his Hyung’s gender._ _Jungkook had informed Taehyung of the guy he had experimented on, but he had refused to give out the guy’s identity—for good reasons of course and his Hyung hadn’t asked (for good reasons, of course)._

Apon meeting the not-so-anonymous male, Taehyung had called Jeonhang ‘cute’ and ‘interesting’ and even complimented his hair. Jungkook knew very well that those adjectives weren’t meant as a compliment so to say that he wasn’t worried a little about the exchange student would be a lie.

Jungkook sighed frustrated. “I never said you were. What I meant is that it doesn’t hurt to react to what I say or do every now and then like a normal person would,” he said, shifting onto his back with the elder half on top him, but his hand didn’t stop caressing the elder’s thigh. 

“It wouldn’t hurt if you could open up to me a little bit more; be a little more honest with yourself and me,” he murmured gently.

He felt the elder’s pulse fasten and a puff of warm breath hit his neck as Taehyung nuzzled into his neck distractedly. “It sounds like everything I say is a lie,” warm breath ghosted over his neck and he shuddered, his hand caressed a little harder on the elder’s thigh.

“You twist words and avoid answering questions,” is what the younger responded, which earned him a snicker from the peach haired male. 

“Tae, I’m serious!” he pinched the elder male and the other groaned in disapproval.   
“Alright!” Taehyung shifted his face from his neck and shifted until he was laying his head on the younger’s chest, but looking up so he could see his face; a blank face staring back at Jungkook. “I’ll be honest with you for one minute, ask whatever you want,” he hummed, when the younger’s other hand came down to run through his hair. 

It was familiar. They used to do this whenever they were younger; cuddle and give each other one minute of pure honesty without filter. In the beginning, it had been hard to stay still and not get mad when the other confessed breaking the other’s favorite toy or losing something valuable to the other.

_“No, Gukkie, I still think Batman is better than Iron Man!” Jungkook may or may not have poured orange juice into Taehyung’s favorite sneakers that day._

But as they grew older they learned how to contain their anger— it doesn’t mean they didn’t get mad, but more like they got a hunch of how to go around their anger.

Of course, as they grew older one minute became too less a time for them to ask everything they wanted and receive the desired answers, but they also learned to prioritize their curiosity. Jungkook knew he could find out many things if he asked the right questions but he also knew he’d have to leave a few things unanswered.

“Who did you go to see the morning after Namjoon-hyung’s party?”  
“Doc.” he didn’t ask him why he’d lied, because Taehyung technically didn’t lie, it had been Jungkook who had assumed otherwise.

“Are you seeing anyone?” It was a casual question, but they both knew it held more meaning. 

“You’d be the first person to know if I was,” the elder gave him a tight-lipped smile. 

“What about hooking up? Have you—”  
“No.” the elder cut him off before he could continue. Something sharp lingered in the air, a warning of some sort. Jungkook shivered as he felt the tiny goosebumps on Taehyung’s skin against his.

“Why haven’t you been eating lately?” his fingers traced the elder’s sides, feeling more bones than meat. He felt the other’s heart pick up, but his voice was calm when he answered again.

“I can’t stomach much.”  
“So you choose not to eat?” Taehyung’s fridge was still full with the food their housekeeper had stocked with, a week and a half ago.  
“I do, but it keeps coming back up. I can’t help it,” he muttered indifferently.

“Maybe you should move in with me. It might be due to—”

“No.”  
“Why?” he demanded, tilting his head down, lips unconsciously forming a pout.

Taehyung sighed. “Time’s up, Guk,” he tried to get off the younger, but Jungkook tightened his arms around him, so he slumped back a little too strong, knocking the air out of Jungkook just to spite him. 

“I need to go to the toilet, let go,” he said after a while, voice devoid of any emotions, but he didn’t struggle to get out.

Jungkook felt stupid. It wasn’t fun when Taehyung wasn’t in the mood to play along, so he let him go.   
The older male got off of him and made way to the bathroom without looking back at him. He closed his eyes, throwing his head back onto the pillows in frustration when he heard the door click shut and lock from the inside.   
Soon after he heard the sound of the shower running, though they'd just been in the shower moments ago. And if Taehyung took longer than he would have taken normally then he didn’t mention it. If the elder came out looking out of it and with puffy eyes and red marks that had not been there before then Jungkook just took him in his arms and held him close on the fresh sheets until they both fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it made up for the long wait...somehow. Guys, I feel so proud of BTS and Armys, I have no words^^ I literally get goosebumps whenever I think about this fandom and how supportive and loyal it is to BTS. Anyways, I'm still swamped with school, so don't expect another update so soon. As always, talk to me and let me know your thoughts so far :D

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is cross-posted on AFF as well under the same name :)


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